Twenty Ways to Catch a Weasley
by FairlightMuse
Summary: Snape has to find at least twenty ways to prove that he loves her. SSGW
1. Default Chapter

The sequel, requested by some. I don't know how well it will turn out, as I have never before attempted a full-fledged sequel. If you haven't read ''Everyone Knows''., this is not going to make much sense, I fear. Hope everyone enjoys.

1.

Ginny was more than a little surprised when Severus Snape offered to see her safely home. She had noticed that he had been acting just the slightest bit peculiar after the Order meeting that evening, but she attributed that to having spent so much time recently in the company of her twin brothers. Sometimes they made her feel rather peevish too.

Against her better judgement, she consented to be escorted home, perfectly prepared to endure any kind of sarcastic outburst or slander he must have saved especially for her. She could not imagine what she could have done to deserve it; besides the fact that she now held his much coveted position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. His exact words on hearing that she had won the position, had been;

" That is strange since you _failed_ to avoid being possessed by Tom Riddle. How good could you _be_?"

And she had answered something heated along the lines of;

'' At least I was only _possessed_...it's better than being one of _his _toadies."

They had barely spoken since that day, except during Order business, when they were forced to tolerate each other's company in the most civil manner they could manage.

Now he was offering to escort her home? And he had made his offer discreetly, when no one else could overhear, which gave her mild apprehension. Not enough so that she refused him though. She was much to curious to do that!

They had Apparated right to her door, he had bid her farewell, and had left. She had though it to be a one time thing, so she was surprised again when, after the next meeting, he offered again. He left her in much the same manner, that time.

The third time this had happened, he had taken hold of her hand, and they had stood awkwardly for a moment. She was wondering whether or not she should ask him inside and offer him a drink, or maybe if she should just demand up front to know what was going on. She had just opened her mouth to make such a demand, when he seized her about the shoulders, pinning her to the wall. He was desperately trying to kiss her, and she was unable to reach her wand. Coming to her senses, before he did, she brought her knee up, in an age old method of self defense. It struck him squarely in the groin, and he fell to the ground with a groan.

Drawing out her wand with a steady hand that any DADA teacher would have been proud of, she leveled the wand directly at his face.

" What do you think you were _doing_?" she demanded.

He only glared up at her for moment, panting between his teeth as he held himself.

" Try-trying to kiss you!" he finally hissed, looking at her as though she were daft.

' I know_ that_! But why?" she held the wand on him as she unlocked her door. " Are you _drunk_, or just insane tonight?"

He struggled to rise to his feet, still panting. She offered him her hand but he waved it away.

" I am neither. "

" Would you care to explain?' she prompted. She was not angry, but she was puzzled. Why should he want to kiss her?

" For God's sake woman, can I come in for a moment? I have something I want to discuss with you, and I need to sit down."

She contemplated him for a moment. He did not seem malicious, in fact he seemed less so than when he was in his evil potion master's persona.

"Give me your wand." she said, holding out her other hand.

" What? I will not!"

" Then you can stay out here." she began backing into her door.

" Wait!" he pulled out his wand, and handed it to her, safe end first.

" That should give you an indication of how serious I am about talking." he muttered.

" Fine. But don't try anything else like that or I'll make you regret it." she warned, pocketing his wand.

" You already have." he limped past her into the small house.

Ginny followed him inside, motioning towards her small scrubbed table. It was the only uncluttered place in her entire house, he noticed, glancing around. There were stacks of sloppily stacked books, and magazines, scrolls of parchment spilled out onto the floor, empty ink wells, several brooms, tins of broom wax, cushions, boxes of pranks and gags from here brother's store, trinkets from her school days, and what seemed like a thousand photographs, some magical, some Muggle, all portraying smiling images of her family and friends. He brushed two broken quills off of one of the chairs and sat down. . .gingerly.

He could see through into her kitchen, where she was hastily rummaging through overstocked cabinets in search of something.

" What would you like? Tea? Something stronger?" she offered.

He turned to see what she was showing him, and almost groaned again. She had shed the black robe,revealing the Muggle dress she had been wearing underneath. It was something soft and autumnal, the burnt umber color accentuating the flame color of her hair, and the pale cream of her skin. In one hand he held a bottle of fire whiskey, and in the other she held a Butterbeer.

" The fire whiskey, in a cup of tea, if it's not too much trouble. "

" The least I can do, seeing as I tried to emasculate you."

" My fault."

"Why _did_ you do that?" she asked, sitting down across from him.

He poured a hearty swallow of whiskey into his tea, and took a drink. A little liquid courage.

" I did that because you looked so. . .real, and you. . .got to me."

She stared at him in disbelief.

" I _got _to you?" That was the worst excuse for kissing her that she had heard yet.

" Yes. . .but in a good way."

'' Aha, in a good way."

" Yes. You got to me in a good way, and I wanted to kiss you. How hard is that to _understand_?"

" I looked so real, and I got to you, in a good way and you wanted to kiss me? Is that right?"

" Yes!"

'' May I ask you something?"

" What?" his voice carried a note of irritation, either at his own behavior or at her calm lack of excitement over his predicament, she did not know.

" Before you say anything else. . .I just have to know, is this some kind of a joke? Because if this anything like what we did to Hermione and Remus, I want no part in it."


	2. It's a little bit funny

What was she talking about? Of course this was no joke! He did not stoop to making cheap pranks. Well, except for that brief instance with the garters. . .but that was an entirely different matter. Lupin had had that coming to him for years.

Kissing someone was different. Kissing someone was serious, didn't she see that? And what was she saying? Did she mean she would not mind kissing him, if it were no joke? He certainly hoped so, because humor was the farthest thing from his mind at the moment.

" Joke! I am not joking with you. . .Ginny. I believe I am falling in love with you."

She choked on her own tea, completely taken by surprise. He had to reach across the table and thump her soundly on the back; despite her wheezing protests. When she could at last draw a complete breath she had no words to say. For the longest time she just sat staring at him. She had heard those words often, and from the lips of many different men and boys, but never had she thought to hear them uttered by Professor Snape. She couldn't imagine him saying those words to anyone, let alone herself. . . surely he was the last person on earth capable of that emotion!

But he did not lower his gaze He sat defiantly on his side of her table, defending his right to exist. She could not deny that he looked sincere. . .but of course, he was a spy. He was, no doubt, capable of making people believe him. . .but she was yet to fall into that trap so readily.

" How do you know, that you are falling in love?" she asked.

" I don't know that I am falling in love, I said that I believe I am falling in love, and in my opinion there is still a vast amount of difference."

" Those are not exactly endearing words." she pointed out.

" They are the truth, and you'll get no less from me. "

" But why do you. . .believe you are falling in love?" she persisted.

" Because every since that first night I saw you home, You have been stuck in my head, and I cannot flush you out."

" Flush me out. That is charming." she bit back a wry smile. Actually, his feeble, yet frank words, were more intriguing than the practiced, buttery prose she had heard in the past. They were certainly not the most common lines.

" I thought about you all night, all morning, all during the day. It seemed as though I had never noticed you before. I hadn't actually, you were just another Weasley. . .but suddenly, that night at the meeting, I just became aware of how...how..."

" 'Real' I was? " she offered.

" Yes."

" I see. In fact I am beginning to see very clearly. Now try to think. . .that night that we were at the ' meeting ', where Bill gave you the coins, did you, by any chance, eat something offered to you by Fred and George?"

He thought for a moment.

" No."

" Are you certain? You didn't take anything from one of them? A candy or a cup of tea? I wouldn't put it past them to try something like this twice."

'' Have they done it before?"

She narrowed her eyes.

" Yes. . .remember Remus and Hermione?"

" Oh that. No...I don't believe i took anything...Wait a moment. No."

" What?"

" Well, I did eat a piece of candy, but it was not they who gave it to me. . ."

" Who gave it to you?"

'' Actually, it was Harry Potter."

" Harry? Are you sure?"

'' Yes. The scruffy imbecile with glasses and a scar on his head...Harry."

" But Harry couldn't charm his way out of a broom closet! How would he have managed something like that!" she mused.

" Then perhaps it was not him."

" No. . .I think it might have been. Do you recall what the candy looked like?"

" It was yellow, and about this size" he showed her with his hands.

She pursed her lips and nodded.

" Yes...just as I suspected. A few weeks ago, Fred said that Charlie stopped by the store and bought an entire carton of those canary cremes. Right after Hermione's incident with the cauldron. Then, Harry and Ron seemed to be very thick with each other over some secret. "

" And? ' he demanded

" A week or two ago, Charlie made a big production of offering everyone a sweet, and he fed one intentionally to Tonks! Aha! So that is what happened, that fink! He tricked her." Ginny laughed,

" What are you talking about?"

" Harry and Ron must have devised a love spell for Fred and George's Canary Cremes. . .by the way, it is very fortunate for you that you did not turn into a large yellow bird. Charlie gave one to Tonks, and she fell for; therefore, they must have given you one of the charmed candies as well! That's it! It is probably just one of their spells!"

" Is that a good thing?"

" Well, I don't know. I wasn't aware that Harry and Ron could even do charms, let alone successful ones. It will probably wear off in a day or two."

" It has been three weeks!"

" You're a Potion's Master, you could try to cure yourself. Or go to Madam Pomfrey."

" Maybe I don't want to be cured."

" You're not serious! " she laughed.

" I am. I feel better than I have in ages, and if you would just co-operate, my life would be perfect. "

" Your life, but what about mine?''

" Well...what about it? Don't you like me?"

" I...I...never thought about you before. I mean, you never seemed like someone who would be interested in a relationship."

" I never was before."

' And I am telling you, it is just a spell. A rather stubborn one, but a spell just the same. You'll grow out of it, and then where would I be?"

" You could be in a huge silk-sheeted bed at Snape Manor..." he smirked. leaning over the table.

She drew back, watching him warily.

He sighed, running his hand through his hair.

" What can I do to prove to you that I am sincere?" he demanded, looking suddenly tired and defeated.

He really did not look as though he had slept.

She tilted her head, studying him while she pondered this dilemma. She could just send him away. . .it would be easy enough. But there was a sincerity that she appreciated in his manner. Even intoxicated by whatever spell Harry and Ron had socked to him, he was not resorting to romantic gushing's, nor was he persisting in his earlier attempts to embrace her. She had known a few others who would not have stopped at just a knee in the groin.

" I think, Professor. . . "

" Call me by my name"

" I think, then, Severus that you should do just that. Try to prove that you love me. "

" What? Prove it to you? After I said I love you?"

" Anyone can say those words. I am speaking of proving it in other ways. Show me."

" How? What is it you want?" he raised his voice a little.

" Un-uh. . .use your creativity. . .if you can." she added the jibe, not to be cruel, but to bait him in further. She wanted to see if he were truly sincere. If he could still try, after being angry, and after being denied. . .then she would start to believe him.

" You want me to prove it? Fine I will!" he shouted suddenly. " I'll show you, you little brat. I bet I know fifty ways to prove it!''

" Twenty would suffice, but they have to be good enough for me to believe."

He stood up from the table, glowering.

" Where are you going?" she asked.

" Home. If it's all right with you. May I have my wand, Miss Weasley?" he held out a long pale hand.

She gave the wand back to him, and he tucked it into his robes, turning to leave.

" What, no goodbye kiss? " she asked.

" No thank you. The last one is still reverberating through my body. " he opened her front door and stepped outside before he stopped and turned back to look at her. . .as if trying to decide whether or not he really loved her, or if he despised her. " Forget it! It just isn't WORTH it!" he exclaimed and slammed the door behind him.

Somewhere in the hall, one of her pictures fell to the ground, and the clock over the door protested with a loud ringing.

Ginny quietly cleaned up their dishes, absently wondering whether or not he would actually attempt to woo her.

What would she do if he did?

TBC 


	3. Not so funny when it's you, eh?

The next day came and went, without so much as a word from Snape. The only proof she had that he had really been in her house was the broken glass over the photograph. She had not repaired it, though she easily could. She left, it as a reminder of his visit, although it was a bit disturbing to have the spiderweb crack threading across the picture. It was a Muggle photograph of herself and Hermione on Holiday with Hermione's parents. They had all gone to France two years ago, and Hermione had invited Ginny along. Ginny had just broken off an engagement, with nasty consequences, and Hermione had nursed her through her woes. They had become very close, and as Ginny stared at the picture fondly, she felt a little guilty.

She really should come clean with Hermione about the bet, and how they had all meddled so shamelessly in her love life. Ginny owed it to her. Perhaps the picture falling had been auspicious. . .to remind her that hse had a friend, and could confide in her, and trust her implicitly. If she would still speak to her after learning the events preceding her and Remus' marriage.

Ginny grinned. Nah, Hermione wouldn't be angry, and Remus would probably laugh. After all, weren't they good enough sports to laugh off the Boggart joke Snape and the twins had pulled on Remus? and if you could forgive someone that. . .

She was actually surprised at how easily the truth came out. She took Hermione out to lunch the second day after Snape's visit. She talked while Hermione ate ravenously, apologizing once for being so hungry.

" No one at the Ministry believes in eating! " Hermione said around a mouthful of fish. " Sometimes I think I am going to starve on my feet! "

Ginny toyed with her own salad as she slowly told Hermione everything about the Bet.

" Ha! So everyone did know?" Hermione asked, taking a large drink of soda. I figured as much afterwards, but i didn't know you had all gove tht far!'

" So your not upset?"

" No. I have come to expect anything." she grinned. " However if we had known. . .we would have held off for as long as possible, just to make everyone nervous."

" Oh they were nervous enough. It took months! What is incredible is how you _didn't_ notice. I mean, you _are_ supposed to be ' The-Most-Brilliant-Witch-Of-Your-Age, according to Remus."

" Ironic, isn't it? I guess neither of us are incredibly astute!" Hermione bit into large pice of pastry. " However I am willing to make a bet myself, and say that you did not invite me to lunch just to confess everyone's sins."

" Well. . ., no. Not entirely. That is just the first part."

Ginny launched into the full story, having to pause ever so often so that Hermione could clarify a point.

" Desert Desserts? Is that why I was so thirsty?" she laughed, at one point when Ginny was explaining about why Hermione's cauldron had exploded.

Ginny went on to describe the 'special' canary cremes,and how Charlie had used one to seduce Tonks-

" As if she needed so much enticement.'' Hermione broke in. " So you are saying that you suspect that Harry and Ron charmed the candy? So I'll bet it was the two of them that broke into my flat! "

" I _wouldn't_ have believed it. . ." Ginny said, " I mean, it isn't like the two of them have done anything serious in the last five years."

" Sixteen years." Hermione said, grinning.

" Exactly. However. . ."

And she proceeded to reveal the rest of the story, right up until that morning when she had been looking at the cracked photograph. After she finished she took a delibrately large bite of salad, watching and waiting for Hermione's response. It was less surprised than she would have thought. . .Hermione really had come to exect anything.

" Snape actually said "I love you" ? " Hermione raised a brow.

" No. . .as he pointed out, he said he _believed _he loved me."

" Yes, but he actually said the '' L" word? I don't know that there is a potion in the _world_ that is that strong! "

" It isn't funny."

'' Sure it is. If you had so much amusement at my expense, then certainly I can have a few laughs on you."

" Yes, but that doesn't help me figure out waht to do."

'' What's to worry about. He might really have meant what he said, and be gone for good! "

" But what if he isn't?" Ginny asked

" Well. . .tell him to sod off if you aren't interested. You aren't interested, right?"

" I am not certain. I might be interested, if he proves to be sincere. You know how I feel about black hair. . ." Ginny smiled.

" Yes. I know" Hermione commented drily. ' Let me count the boys; Harry Potter, Michael Goodlong, Francis Wolf, Adrien Cusp. . ."

" His hair was dark brown."

" It doesn't matter. The point is that you are constantly getting into bad relationships with blackhaired men. I don't think you should choose a mate based simply on hair coloration."

" Sure I should. I am totally justified in that."

" Totally justified?" Hermione raised a brow.

" Of course. That way, when we've been married for ages, and his disposition has soured, I can petrify him and keep him in the corner. He'll be jsut as pretty, and I won't have to make him breakfast." Ginny waggled her brows at Hermione.

Hermione laughed.

" Well, you won't have to wait with Snape, you can go ahead and add him to the decor, he is already sour."

" I guess that depends on whether or not he actually tries to prove himself. I am not falling for lame easy ideas like jewellry or flowers. It has to be something. . .that says he is truly trying. "

" Are you going to keep a score for him? Above average with the remembering birthday, exceeds expectations with choosing that romantic way to first kiss me...oops, I guess he blew that one already!"

" Maybe I will. . .but he is definately not gaining any points for such lines as "and I couldn't flush you out of my mind' ''

" Oh, I think he ought to earn _something_ for originality. But seriously. . .are you going to allow this? If you aren't interested, you should tell him from the beginning, and not let him bang his head against a brick wall. Like that poor guy in France."

" I tried to tell him I wasn't interested. We just had a language barrier. And. . .yeah, I think I am interested. It's not like I am having luck with anyone my own age. You don't think it will cause too much of a scandal do you?"

" Oh. . .no. Besides the fact that between you and I it will look as though their is a half-price sale on Hogwarts Professors. . .but seeing as you are a professor yourself, I am sure it will be fine. Besides, when have you ever cared whether or not you caused a scandal?"

' I don't want everyone snickering and betting behind _my_ back."

" Oh, it's not so fun when it's you?" Hermione grinned. " well, then I suggest you make it as public as possible. If he will make a fool of himself for you in front of everyone, then he loves you. "

" Even under a spell?"

" Even under a spell."

'' Thanks Hermione."

" No problem. That's what friends are for. So where are you off to next?"

" First I am going to find my dear brother Ron, and aske him a few. . .gentle questions. Then, I am going home. I have a lot of lessons to prepare before school begins."

" Good Luck. And Ginny?"

" Yes?"

" Don't eat anything he hands you."

" Right. Well, if it weren't for my habit of never eating Fred and George's candy to begin with, I would probably be in bed right now. . .a silk-sheeted bed in Snape Manor"

" Bleh. I just ate."


	4. Crimson and gold and achoo

Ginny found her brother, somewhere between his usual pub and the ministry. She called out to him, and when he turned to acknowledge her, she could see that he was looked all grim and grey. He raised a hand as she approached her, warding off any comment she might have been even thinking about uttering.

" Don't _even_ bother." he said, somberly.

" Ron? Bother with what?" she asked, perplexed.

" Don't bother with the lecture, the threats or the promise of making me regret anything." he said.

She raised a brow in amusement.

" Was it that obvious?"

" No. I mean. . .well, yeah, you kind of looked mad. But I already knew what to expect."

" How. . .?"

" Because I had to listen to the whole thing from Snape yesterday. I thought you _knew_." he frowned at her.

" Snape came to see you?"

" _Confront_ was more like it. He strode in like the Grim Reaper, all black and billowy. . .extended his wand hand and said ' I want some answers Weasley. Don't make me tear you apart.' " bawled Ron, attempting to mimic Snape.

" Fraidy cat. Don't you think your being a bit dramatic?"

" No. He was bloody scary, and he interupted me. . .so I was. . .befuddled."

" Interuppted you?"

" Yes, I was in bed."

" He came into your _house_?"

'' I didn't say I was in _my_ bed." he glared at her.

" Oh. . .I see." she blushed slightly. "

" So now I have no girlfriend."

" Life can really be unfair sometimes, can't it?" she said with mock symapthy.

" So your mad at me too,then?"

" Curious, actually. "

" Well, it won't do you any good. Snape made me swear not to tell you anything."

" Why, what's to tell?"

" I am not telling you! don't try tricking me, Ginevra. I am not in the mood for games."

" But this isn't a game. I want to know how long the spell on those candies will last, and don't deny that you and Harry are responsible."

" I am not denying anything, nor am I revealing anything else. And if youll excuse me, sister dearest, I am going to be late for work."

" Since when has that ever concerned you?" she tried to block his way, but he picked her up and set her easily to the side.

" And don't bother with Harry either, he received a similar threat, and nothing you say or do can _ever _change out minds."

" Not even a promise that Snape will never know you told me?'

" Haha...you think the old bat didn't think of that? He cast some funny little spell over us that will alert him the moment we break our oath." he fidgeted under her gaze.

" And what if I torture it out of you?" she grinned.

" Go ahead and try! He thought of that too! " Rons ears had turned pink, wild carnation flags beaconing his frustration.

" Well isn't he being just the perfect pain-in-the-arse?'' she said, shaking her head.

" I guess so. Look Ginny, I _really_ have to go." he looked about nervously.

" Go on then. I'll see you later."

" Don't count on it. . ." he grumbled under his breath, as he scurried (yes, he was actually scurrying) away from her.

Ginny sighed to herself. Well, _that _had been a waste of time. She could only wonder what secret was so great that Snape would want it kept from her. She was positive it might be something important, however she couldn't figure out how come he would not be ecstatic about sharing something awful with her. He had always enjoyed being the harbinger of ill fortunes. Maybe it meant they were engaged, or something similarly devastating to his pride. Maybe he had come to his senses. . .and decided to hex anyone who might ention that he tried to snog a Weasley.

Somehow, judging from Ron's nervous demeanor, she assumed that was not the case. Well, fine. If he wanted to skulk around, keeping secrets it was fine with her, she would just go home and put him out of her mind. She ahd a lot to do, anyway, She was to be the first DADA teacher, in fifteen years to hold two consecutive posts at Hogwarts. She considered that a mild triumph.

After the last school year, she had learned that her students, all of her students, including the Slytherins, had exceeded all expectations as far as their curriculum was concerned. She was a no nonsense teacher, perhaps more so than McGonagall. She was strict, but fair, showing for once, no favoritism towards any students, not even Gryffindors. As a result she was well liked, even if it was grudgingly in some cases. . .and her expectations of the children's abilities and behaviour were generally well met.

However she was nervous about returning for a second year. She did not want to think that her success the first year had been a fluke of nature;yet she was prepared to face that possbility. She reminded herself of Hermione sometimes, hurrying to get everything organised, even though school was months away from beginning.

She was absorbed in her thoughts as she reached her own front door, and she was absentmindedly unwarding the locks when her nose begin to itch just a little. The air was warm and heavy, and she smelled something sweet and heavy, like cheap cologne. It was cloying, with a faint putrid underscent, and she felt a wave of nausea coming on. Something must have _died_ somewhere, she thought, wrinkling her nose.

She burst into her house, hoping to escape the choking fragrance, but was assaulted by it ten times harder once inside. Her jaw dropped open as she took in her house. It was horrible! Her house, her tiny cluttered little house was now full of flowers. Crimson roses, and gold wildflowers. Vases of them; bouquets of them; bundles them; clusters them. . ._everywhere._

She was standing in the only empty space, but she realized that the flowers were quickly closing in on her. Apparently they were either expanding or more were coming in through the fireplace. Recovering from her shock, she reached inside of her robe to get her wand, but was stricken with a sudden sneezing fit.

Oh no! She thought, groping wildly behind her for the door. She had to get out. But her eyes were swelling and she found it very difficult to see the knob. Still the flowers kept closing in, pushing her against the door.It was becoming very difficult to breathe, as the flowers pressed in on her, gagging her with thier scent. She sneezed again, violently, causing her to bump her head against the door. Starbursts exploded behind her watery eyes, and she sank to her knees, still trying to turn the knob.

Don't let me die like this! she pleaded in her mind as she finally got the knob to turn.

At last the door gave way, but not in the eay she had expected. It swung inwards, knocking her completeley sideways, and unconscious at the same time.

Snape, a bottle of champagne in one hand, peered into the house. He held up his hand and wit a spoken charm the flowers ceased to grow.

" Ginny" he called. He wore a smug expression that was quickly fading. He had expected to find her their, stars in her eyes, and a look of sweet surprise on her face. He tried to push the door open further , but it was caught on something. He banged the door against the object a couple of times, hoping to dislodge it, but whatever it was, it was too heavy to budge. He peered irritibly around the door, expecting to see a dresser, or a table that she had placed there to prevent his entry.

Instead he saw Ginny, sprawled ungracefull on the floor and half suffocated by his creeping roses. Squeezing around the door he knelt by her side.

" Ginny?" he called poking her in the shoulder.

Had she fainted at the surprise? No, that was silly. Ginny would not faint at anything, especially not a few flowers.

'You must have knocked her out with the door, you git! ' he muttered to himself as he turned her over.

Well, that would explain the bruise on her forehead, but not the red swollen features of her face. She must have had some sort of reaction, he thought. He mentally slapped himself for his stupidity, then chided himself for his own self-chastisement. How was _he_ supposed to know she was allergic to flowers?

He drew out his wand, and caused every flower in the room to vanish, then contemplated what he should do next. He supposed taking her to the hospital might be a decent gesture on his behalf, since he was responsible. That required transforming something into a portkey, and with a sigh of regret, he eyed the champagne. Well...it was not going to serve any other purpose today, he thought bitterly.

So much, he thought, for attempt number _one_.


	5. Even Better

Even better.

Sorry, this is not a very humorous chapter. I was focusing more on getting from one point to the other, and had totally lost my muse for anything funny. Better luck next chapter, eh?

While Ginny was inside of the hospital, being revived by a grim mediwitch, Professor Snape was walking up and down a sidewalk along Diagon Alley.

Snape was not very certain of how he should behave towards her now. Apologetic? Aloof? Casual? Or should he crawl to her on his knees and beg for her forgiveness? He decided to keep the latter option in mind; however he was not yet prepared to resort to genuflection. He wasn't _that_ desperate.

Well, perhaps he was _nearly_ that desperate, but since he could think of nothing more humiliating than groveling, he had to save it for the last, best and most perfect moment.

At the present moment, he had a better idea. There was only one way, in his rusty opinion, to make up for his last unfortunate surprise. That was to give her a better present. Something that would make her forget the fact that he had suffocated her with flowers, knocked her out with her door, and then abandoned her at a hospital.

What did women like? He took out a quill and wrote '' WOMEN" at the top of a scrap of piece of parchment. He looked at it for a moment, and decided that he did not like the plural tone to that word. Not WOMEN, but one WO_MAN. _Ginny Weasley. He changed the lettering

What did he know about her? He puzzled. Well, he knew she had played, and still watched Quidditch. She always wore a gold locket. She usually wore a lavender ribbon in her hair. She had a scar across the back of her left hand. She had dated several men, none of them had been Gryffindors. He wrote all of this down and frowned.

He knew many things _of _Ginny, but very few things _about_ her. Unlike Hermione Granger, she had not been a brilliant student,

But she had not been incredibly obtuse. He would put down that she was bright. Very bright, but rather quiet. she had never flaunted herself.

He had been in her house. . .what could he deduce from that?

She was incredible untidy.

She had entirely too many photographs of Potter on her wall. ( Hadn't they dated?)

She had, mercifully, no pets.

She had a very tacky sofa, that looked as though it had seen too much action, of the wrong sort.

She had a stacks and stacks of books. . .

She had a few little figurines, most of them were, as far as he could remember, _bears._

_Cutesy little bears._

The solution he was seeking hit him with the delicate force of a bludger to the chest, causing him to nearly smile.

_" That's IT!" _he declared to a passing group of middle aged women, who blinked wildly before scampering into the nearest shop.

He needed something. . ._cute_.

He wrinkled his large, hooked nose at the word ' cute'. It was a ghastly word, and no doubt it was going to be a grueling and unpleasant task to find this something cute. But, he was a Deatheater. He had served Voldemort, seen war, survived torture, been forced to be nice to Harry Potter, worked with the Weasley twins, and had even seen Remus Lupin in drag. If he had survived that all of that and still walked away unscarred, he could surely scour the countryside (and every shop in London) to find something ' cute.'

The only question was; What would _Ginny Weasley_ consider to be cute?

He drew from inside of his black robes, a brown paper parcel, tied with a lavender string. The package seemed lumpy and soft, and he held it tightly as though fearing it might vanish before she had the chance to open it. For the first time in his adult life, he felt a little bashful, and was very grateful for her smile as she took the gift from his hands, her soft slender fingers brushing along his palm briefly.

" What's this?" she asked, glancing coquettishly up at him from under her lashes.

" My sincerest apology for having hospitalized you yesterday." he said, trying not to sound more like a reprimanded child offering an un-sincere apology.

She delicately untied the strings, torturing him as she carefully unfolded the paper to keep from tearing it. He practically bounced from foot to foot, impatient to see her reaction.

At last her present was bare to the eye, a violet plush bear, with large sad eyes. It wore a Gryffindor tee-shirt, ( the result of an arduous transfiguration on his behalf.), and held a little plush broomstick in one hand. He thought it looked rather nauseating, but Ginny looked as though Christmas had come twice in the same day.

" Oh!" she squealed, " She is sooooo cute!"

HA! Success!

And even better than her verbal response was her physical caress of thanks, when she leaned across the table and kissed his cheek.

" What was that for?" he asked, too surprised to be smug.

" She is adorable! And she is in my favorite color!"

" I know."

" Oh? And how do you know?"

" I have my ways." he thought it sounded very mysterious, but she glared at him suddenly.

" You are not using your little mind trick, are you? Don't think I don't know about that!" he watched, fascinated as color flooded hr face.

" No. . .I am not using a mind trick. I wouldn't dream of intruding on your privacy. _Mental_ privacy, that is. Now stop raising your voice. . .people are looking at us."

" I don't care if people look at us, do you?"

" Yes. . .I find it very annoying and disturbing to have strangers aware of what is occurring between us."

" And what is going on between us?' she asked, taking a sip of her soda.

" I am trying to convince you of my sincerity. Or seduce you, whichever comes first." he attempted a smile, but she continued to contemplate him with a sobriety that made him feel a little uncomfortable.

When she had said nothing after nearly five minutes, and he realized that he could not finish his meal under her scrutiny, he gave an exasperated sigh.

" What is it now? '' he asked.

" Two things."

" One?"

" I am actually beginning to like you. . ."

" Is that such a bad thing?"

" I don't know if it is an achievement."

" Two?" he chose to ignore her comment.

" Two is, that I think that if you really wanted to love me, and be loved, that you would show a little more wild and spontaneous abandon."

" What do you mean? The last time I was spontaneous you. . .gave me a very well aimed reprimand right in my ' drastic measures '.''

Ginny laughed.

" I mean, be a little less worried about people noticing you. A person who was trying to prove unconditional love would not hesitate to humiliate him or herself in public."

" You want me to embarrass myself for you?"

" Not in so many words. . .I was thinking more along the lines of just enjoying life, and not noticing that others are staring at your back."

" Are they staring?" he whipped around.

Ginny shook her head, laughing.

" See, you are paranoid. Relax. "

" I can't relax, you make me very nervous."

" Well, I am about to remedy that." she lay her napkin in her plate, and stood.

" Where are you going?" he asked.

" I have work to do."

" I could assist you. . ." he offered.

" Not this time. I want you to stay right there, and relax. I want you to stay in that chair, for at least five minutes after I leave, and not pay any attention to what people are whispering about us."

" But you said they weren't doing anything back there. . ."

She approached him, swaying her hips a little as she came.

" They will be in a moment." she said, and she ducked her head towards him.

" Thank you so much for the teddy bear! " she squealed again in a high grating voice that turned every head in the room. " You are the best cousin in the world!" and she crushed his mouth under her own, parting his lips easily.

The kiss was so erotic, even if it was short, that every fork in the restaurant stopped midway between mouth and plate, and somewhere a waiter dropped a serving tray.

Severus didn't realize until she pulled away, that she had been half in his lap, her knee planted between his thighs, her breasts dangerously near to his chest.

She winked as she pulled away, and mouthed the words.

" Stay there and don't worry. . ."

" I'll see you later. " she said aloud, wiping a smudge of lipstick off of one corner of his shocked mouth.

He watched as she walked away, her little teddy bear tucked under her arm.

Half of the people's gazes followed her out. The other half remained on him. . .some indignant, others simply curious.

He felt their little eyes and turned to glare at them. Blushing, some of them had the good taste to return to their meals, even as they whispered to each other.

He felt a heat rising in him, and the urge to vanish from their realm. . .but he wouldn't give her that satisfaction. Once again he tried to convince himself that she wasn't worth it. . .but it was impossible when he was in a near state of arousal, just from her kiss.

Just a kiss. . .but wow, what a kiss. It was still pulsing through him, twenty minutes later when he finished his meal, and smugly paid his bill.

All in all, he would say that attempt number two, had gone much better than number one.


	6. Oh congratulations

6.

Oh. . .congratulations.

Ginny knew that what she had done had been incredibly wicked. And the look he had the next time she saw him was somewhere between murderous and erotic. She was beginning to notice more and more that he was erotic, in a dangerous dark and snarky way. And she had to admit that when she had kissed him, it had been dynamite. She could just imagine how lovely it would be to have him kiss her in return.

He wasn't too far off. She had given him little bonus points so far for small things that he had done, such as asking around to find out what her favorite color was. She found out that he had asked Hermione, which Ginny considered to be a thoughtful gesture on his behalf.

Of course. . .he wasn't always winning points.

That morning when she had woken up; she had looked out of her window to see a thousand purple stuffed animals on her lawn.

" Ooh. . .what a pathetic way of trying to get more free kisses! " she had laughed, as she carried them all inside. She had to clean her entire house to have room for the bears, and cats and snakes and little fuzzy monster things; all purple.

And then she had turned on her bathtub yesterday, and her bath had been filled with chocolate drops. . .hundreds of pieces of delectable looking tidbits that she didn't dare eat for fear that whatever he had been practicing with her twin brother's might have given him ideas.

" Did you like your gifts? " he asked her at a meeting.

" Yes. . .but you shouldn't have done that! Really, I would have been just as happy with one."

" And the chocolates?" he had asked.

" You shouldn't have done that either. . .I never eat anything that I don't make for myself."

" That means that you are a snob."

" Perhaps, but not an enchanted snob." she laughed, and kissed his cheek, leaving crimson lip print there on his cheekbone.

They were interrupted by an over exaggerated fit of coughing from Remus. When he had their attention, he gave them a toothy smile.

"Are you finished?" he inquired.

A few snickers came from various locations around the table.

" Of course." said Ginny, pinching Snape's knee as soon as she saw that he was about to produce a typically snarky Snapism. He glowered at her in return, only to see her mouth the words " be nice" to him, before returning her attention to Remus, who was now standing.

Seeing that he was prepared to make some sort of an announcement, Snape gave a huff of exasperation and slid down sulkily in his seat.

" Now that all of the most important business of the day has been discussed, I have an announcement to make, and figure that the best place to announce it is here, amongst our friends and colleagues. " Remus was practically glowing, in a way that made Snape very wary of what was to come.

" Everyone, . . ., Hermione and I are going to be parents!"

A contagious smile swept around the table, morphing into a grin as it traveled. It was followed by a wave of exclamations and cheers; random words to a congratulatory effect. There was some clapping, and one of the loudest and most enthusiastic clappers was Ginny, who glanced over at Snape, still moodily sunken in his chair. She raised an expectant brow, waiting for him to say something.

Oh, congratulations. . .he thought, drily.

Well, he wasn't going to pump Lupin's hand, thump him on the back and congratulate him with the same fervor that the Weasley males were displaying. However, just to prove to Ginny that he had an ounce of decency, he rose to his feet, tossing his head sideways in a trademark manner, dislodging a stray strand of errant raven hair that had fallen across his eyes.

Hermione, beaming like a lighthouse, was now cradled against Lupin's side, as the well wishers all patted her arm. She was trying to answer a bombardment of questions from the women and Harry. Snape stopped in front of the couple and waited to be noticed.

When Lupin acknowledged him with a slight nod, Snape gave a tight smile, and shook Lupin's hand, briefly but firmly, muttering a few words that Ginny could not hear over the noise. They must have been amusing enough, because Lupin laughed and thumped Snape on the back, nearly barreling him into Hermione, to whom he was attempting to delicately congratulate as well.

With that done, he managed to slip back towards the back, and escape out of the side door into the garden, where he could draw a deep breath and relax for a second. That had been about one of the most distasteful things he had done since he had saved Harry Potter from Quirrel's spell during a quidditch match during Harry's first year.

Looking up at the stars, he tried to hate Ginny Weasley. He tried again to convince himself it was all an enchantment and that he should just walk away. But the stars were glittering and they reminded him of the sparkles in her eyes when she looked at him. . .little dancing stars of merriment. He felt a great hollow loneliness in his chest; something that might be filled if he could just somehow. . .

He jumped when he felt a soft touch on his shoulder. He looked back to see her, smiling gently at him. . .no teasing in her expression. In fact she looked a bit wistful.

" It is a beautiful night. " she said.

" It is.'' he agreed, not shrugging away from her simple touch.

" Well, aren't they lucky?" she leaned her head against his shoulder now and he stopped breathing. Inside came the sounds of laughter as the meeting dissolved into a sort of party. Good news was seldom heard anymore, and a new life was a solemn yet wondrous experience.

" Yes. . ." he proceeded cautiously. ' And I could almost have thought back there, that you envied Hermione, just a little bit."

Ginny was silent a moment.

" I can envy her many things. She is brilliant, she has love. . .she will have a baby, and. . ."

" And what?"

" And she. . .well, she had your heart, didn't she?"

" What?"

" You were sweet on her. "

" I wasn't "

" Yes you were. . ." Ginny said firmly. " while you and she were working on the invisibilty potion project."

" That was a respect for intellect."

" I can't compare in that department." Ginny murmured.

" I believe you do. . .and also. . .it was just that she was. . .nice. And you exceed her in that department."

" I do?"

" Sometimes. When you can keeping that nasty temper of yours in check." he teased.

Ginny hit his arm playfully.

" So you haven't anything to envy Hermione. I'll give you everything that she has, and more. .. " he tuned and caught her hand, staring down at her. He could just tell in the dim light that her eyes were slightly shiny.

" Everything?" she asked.

" Yes. "

" Babies?"

" Hundreds of them if you want!"

" Well. . .one or two to begin with!" Ginny laughed.

" Anything you want."

" Severus?"

" Would you do one thing for me if I asked? One big thing?"

" As long as it doesn't involve killing myself. . .yes."

" How did you guess? No, I'm kidding! No I was wondering if you would build me a house?"

" Build you a house!" he exclaimed.

" Yes. . .my own little cottage somewhere. . .where it is doesn't matter, just so long as it's my own."

" You could have my house." he said.

" I know. .. but I want a small comfortable house of my own. It means a lot to me. I have always had to share everything. . .I just want something of my own."

" It is done. Anything you want, just tell me what you want it to look like."

" Just one more thing. . ." she asked, putting her arms around his neck.

" Hmmm...? " he asked, trying to ignore the front of her as it touched the front of him.

" Build it without using any magic?"


	7. Long Day

Slowly . . .so tantalizingly slow. He undressed her, allowing his fingers to only whisper against her skin in the briefest way. The clothing pooled at her feet, lost in the shadows; and she was nude before him, the cool breeze from the open window caressing her milky skin.

He stood for a moment, appraising her beauty, his ebony eyes were so intense that she could almost feel them tracing the lines, burning her.

When he had satisfied himself that she was indeed naked, he pushed her backwards toward the bed using only his fingertips, and barely touching her skin. When her knees touched the edge of the mattress, she fell backwards into the embrace of the satin sheets. Her arms instantly reached up to enfold him, but he stepped out of her reach.

" No, no, little one. It is your birthday, and I have a very special gift for you tonight." his voice was throaty yet silken, and it touched the very core of her, causing a pool of electricity to begin pulsing between her thighs.

She smiled at him, rubbing herself seductively against the cool satin surface of the bed.

" But it isn't my birthday yet. . " she protested.

He smiled; dark and dangerous. . .his perfectly shaped mouth curling upwards arrogantly.

" Oh. . .it doesn't matter, does it? Look, I have something for you." he showed her his hand, long and pale against the black of his shirt. Slowly he raised two fingertips to his mouth and wetted them, before tracing them down the front of his shirt, toward his pants band.

Her breath caught in her throat as she followed his fingertips with her eyes. He dipped below his pants band, and she watched him eagerly, expecting him to free his ever growing arousal from the confines of his trousers. He pulled out, instead, a rather slender glass jar.

She sat up, frowning a little.

" What is that? " she asked, somewhat sharply.

" Your present. . ." he stepped next to the bed, and touched the cool glass of the jar to her leg. Ginny drew in a sharp breath, as he began to roll it slowly along her leg, towards her thigh. She let her legs fall open, imagining how good it would feel to have him touch her with the glass, how cold it would feel, pressed against her warmth.

He seemed to understand this desire in her, and therefor purposefully denied her, rolling the jar across her thigh, and up to her hip. He sat upright there, and turned it so that she could read the label.

" Marmalade!" she exclaimed. Why would he be giving her marmalade. . .especially now of all times!

" Marmalade." he purred.

" Why? Wh-what am I to do with marmalade?" she asked.

" You are going to watch me eat it. . ." he said.

" Watch you eat it?" she shook her head. The excitement she had felt blossoming inside of her began to wilt.

He brought one knee up and rested it between her legs.

" don't look so crestfallen. . .I am sure you will enjoy it." he returned the jar to her knee and began a slow circular exploration of her inner thigh with it, half tracing, half massaging her with its rounded bottom.

Her legs opened of their own accord, so that he had an unadulterated view of her; the long creamy expanse of her torso ending in that one mysterious epicenter. He traced the jar towards it, but at the last moment, turned it and rolled it back toward her knee.

She groaned. She was, by nature, a passionate woman anyhow, and having him so methodically torment her had her easily inflamed. He seemed to know this, and purposefully denied her, choosing to play with her other thigh for a while. He never touched her with his hand, just with the cool alien glass of the jar, letting it's weight aid him in his caress.

Having an object that did not belong in the bed, between her legs, made Ginny feel more excited, and she arched toward his hand when he made a new approach towards her center. .. but he avoided her again, and instead, rolled the jar along the crease in her hip setting it upright on her belly. . .just over the brush of flaming hair.

She was panting now, the jar bobbed up and down, orange and penile, taunting her with it's presence. She was wet and warm and so near that she could taste the electrical taste of pleasure in the back of her mouth. Yet he had not yet touched her where she so needed to be touched.

She tipped her hips toward him, pleadingly, but he ignored her. He took the jar in both hands now, and with a firm twist of his wrist he opened it, there was an audible snap as the seal was broken. She watched half in frustration and half in curiosity as he dipped his fingers into the marmalade, and scooped out small amount. Bringing his hand near to his face, he cautiously let his tongue peer out, and taste the marmalade delicately.

Ginny felt a new heat beginning in her. . .as she watched him tongue the gelatinous substance, thinking of where she would prefer his tongue to be. He was wanting her to think like that. He was pure evil, and he knew it.

Severus flicked his hand out suddenly and smeared the marmalade on her breast. She had been so preoccupied with the tumult below her navel that she was startled by the sudden touch.

" Now. . ." he drawled." watch me eat it."

He lowered his head to her breast and lapped the spread. Ginny groaned. It felt marvelous, and she was now aching for fulfillment. How long was he going to carry out this exquisite torment?

He slowly explored around the nipple, sucking gently at the pink base, before finally engulfing the hard peak in his mouth. He suckled it hard, then bit at it gently, causing her to murmur, either in protest or pleasure. . .he couldn't be certain.

Retrieving more marmalade, he performed the same ritual at her other breast, taking a leisurely amount of time to nuzzle his face in the in the stickiness, before dipping back into the jar. This time he brushed it across her lips, and left her body untouched for a few moments while he kissed her, licking the marmalade from within, nibbling at the her bottom lip without.

She watched then as he painted a line of marmalade from her chin to her navel, letting a healthy dollop fall to rest there in that little cavity. By the time he had kissed and bitten his way down her body, licking up every single bite, she was about ready to scream. In fact, she had her mouth open to call his name, ordering him to please take her, when he delved his tongue into her navel. The sound of his name was cut off abruptly as she shuddered.

No one had ever tasted hr there, and she would never have thought it to be such an erogenous area. He ran his tongue around the rim before dipping in, sucking slightly. She actually whimpered. . .it was so positively divine.

Again he was dipping into the jar, and again he was tracing a line of marmalade down; down through her red pubic hair and at last to the folds of flesh that were thrumming and pulsing with expectation. He had to hold her hips down now, his sticky fingers digging into her flesh as he worked.

She could feel tears forming at last as he touched her with his tongue. She thought she would come at once if he finally made it to her clitoris, but once he was there, she found her body to be stubborn and un cooperative. She wanted him to be faster, to bruise her with his nose; but he wouldn't. He was calm, and slow, never breaking the slow and tortuous rhythm he had set, no matter how much she writhed.

Suddenly he dipped two fingers into her body.

" Why. . .Ginny, I had no idea you were so aroused. . ." he said in feigned surprise. " Perhaps I have something here that would fill your needs?"

She was squeezing his fingers, trying to find release, but at his words her eyes flew open, and she watched stunned as he took the jar in his hand from where it had been resting beside her on the mattress.

He brought it slowly along her leg, until it touched against her, the icy coldness of the glass a stunning contrast to her own burning heat. The jar looked exactly like a large penis, she noticed, practically the same size around as her wrist. He looked to her for permission and she gave it, pleading him with her eyes, reaching with her body. She wanted to be breached by the huge smoothness. . .wanted to clamp down of it's impossible hardness when she finally sent her over the edge.

She was so close to the ultimate ecstasy, as she felt the jar pressed close.

" But you have to wake up now..." he said, grinning evilly at her.

" I can't!" she gasped. " please hurry!" she reached wantonly for his hand, prepared to make him finish. But her hand came in contact with plain air, and then fell limply to an ordinary cotton sheet.

" Oh no. . .oh no. . ." she moaned.

The clock on her bedside table began to beep happily. Sitting up suddenly in her own bed, she switched off the alarm, reeling groggily. The dream still lingered about her, and she felt her self blushing, mortified with herself.

Had she really just had an erotic dream about Severus? She never had erotic dreams, not with any of her former lovers. She shook her head, trying t clear the images from it. She couldn't of course. . .and it wouldn't have done any good if she could have. Her head wasn't what was suffering the most. She wriggled uncomfortably in the bed. She was very aroused, she realized, and her bed was damp.

Should she take a cold shower, and continue her day like nothing had happened? She tried to remember what was on the agenda. Oh yes. . .going shopping with Hermione. Hermione had flooed her last night and begged her to come along.

She couldn't face the day, or concentrate on anything regarding baby clothes if she were in a permanent state of arousal. . .she realized. So, she lay back in the bed, letting her fingers stray beneath the sheets. Well, if she already had the images in her mind, she might as well put them to some good use.

But damn. . .it was going to be a long day.

Later-

Build it without magic? She was trying to drive him crazy. Well, if she thought being crazy was a good way to get rid of him, she was sorely underestimating Severus Snape! He rarely ever wanted anything, but once he saw something that he couldn't live without, he would stop at nothing to get it. He wanted only two things desperately at the moment; the position of DADA teacher, and Ginny Weasley.

One day, he might wear Dumbledore down and convince him to give him the position of DADA teacher. After all, if everything went as planned, Ginny wouldn't be needing it anymore. When, not if, he finally caught her, he was going to put her so high on a pedestal she was going to need a rope to get down, and guard rails to keep her from falling over the sides.

She wasn't going to need a teaching position; she would never have to do anything at all, unless she absolutely wanted to. She was going to be happy, whether she liked it or not!

These were the thoughts that were racing irritably through Snape's mind as he stormed up to Hermione Granger's door. He banged on the door, hoping they didn't have silencing charms set. He had certainly not wanted to do this, but he had been awake most of the night, trying to decide how he was going to go about this task. The only good thing about it was that at least she had set a task, instead of making him guess.

Sometime around dawn, he had decided that he would swallow his pride, sharp edged as it was, and ask advice from someone for perhaps the third time in his entire life.

The door opened, and a sleepy looking Hermione poked out her extra bushy head.

" Hello. . what are you doing here?" she asked.

" May I come in for a moment, I have. . .something I need to ask."

She shrugged and held the door open.

He stepped inside, noticing a groggy, shirtless Lupin, slumped over a cup of coffee. . .either still half asleep or attempting to drink the brew through his nose. He partially opened his eyes, saw Snape , and winced.

" You look awful." he commented.

True, Snape was even paler than usual, and looked exhausted. He had found it easier to not sleep, and think about Ginny, than to be asleep and dream about her. Not there was much of a difference in the dosage of pleasurable agony.

Snape raised a brow at Lupin, who, in his opinion, looked like he should be sleeping it off under a bench somewhere.

Hermione came up behind them, and gestured to a chair.

" Tea? Coffee? Anything?" she asked.

Snape shook his head, and opened his mouth to launch directly into his query. Only at the last minute did the words change as they exited his mouth.

" How are you. . .feeling, this morning?" he asked.

" Wonderful, actually, I guess all of the horror stories I have heard are simply nonsense." she smiled, pouring him a cup of tea.

" Everyone is different, I suppose. " he said awkwardly.

He was new to the realm of common courtesies, and he felt a little low for even trying. Surely everyone would only think he was trying it just to attract Ginny's attention. That was partly true, he knew that whatever he said to Hermione, would eventually make it to Ginny; and he wanted as much of it as possible to be good. However he had also wanted to make sure that Hermione was well.

" So you didn't come all of the way here, to ask me that?" she urged, sitting on Remus' knee, as there were only two chairs. The two extras were stacked dangerously high with books about magical parenting, Muggle parenting, and parenting in general. She hadn't outgrown her thirst to know everything about every subject, apparently.

" No, not really. I came to ask. . .for some. . advice."

" _You_? But I-" Remus was cut off abruptly by Hermione's elbow in his ribs. Snape concealed a smirk of satisfaction at the exaggerated gasping that followed.

" Really? On what subject?" Hermione asked, sipping her own tea primly.

" Houses.''

" Houses? What about them?" she asked, puzzled.

" I need to know where to find information on building a house. Without magic."

" You mean, like _Muggles_ build houses?"

" Yes."

" Well. . .I... " she paused to think for a moment, a charming line coming up between her eyebrows.

" I am not really sure, myself. . .I have never needed to know. But, I could make a list of places that you might try, including a Muggle library, and a few bookstores. . ." she reached for a napkin, prepared to jot down a few names.

" Actually, I was wondering if I might have a live guide. " Snape blurted. '' I am not exactly familiar with the area. . ."

" Certainly." Hermione said. This is perfect. I was going shopping later today, so Remus will need something to keep him occupied." She smiled innocently as both men opened their mouths to protest.

" Ginny's is going to be with me too. . ." Hermione said, before Severus could say a word. " Should I. . .keep your mysterious behavior a secret?"

He closed his mouth and glowered at her. If he refused to allow Remus to tag along, word would get around about his sour ' disposition.'

" Fine. If it isn't an imposition." he finally said. " No need to keep secrets though, there is nothing I don't suffer that she isn't perfectly aware of. " he muttered, glancing over at Remus.

Lupin gave him a huge smile, ( if he knew of the terminology, he would have called it a ' shit-eating grin' ) and he immediately felt a twinge of indigestion beginning. It was going to be a long day.

" You're stuck on her aren't you?" Remus drawled as they walked down a crowded street.

He knew better than to expect much civility from Snape at the moment. . .he had gotten over the disappointment of having him as company, but Snape would never forgive him or Hermione for their insistence that morning that he wear something less...black.

He had refused to wear any other color, so they had reached a compromise. Hermione had transformed his clothes into a black business suit with a spiffy two button jacket, insisting more people would be cooperative if he looked important.

" Hey." Remus poked him. " Are you awake?"

" Don't touch me."

" Oh good, not only are you awake, but you are in a fabulous mood."

" Of course I am. I am travelling through Muggle infested London, in the company of a git in an ugly shirt, to find out how to build a house without magic; all because that little bastard Potter put a hex on me."

" Shh. not so loud." Remus glanced around. A few people gave them curious looks, but walked on. " so you are stuck on her. . .you old lecher."

" Hardly think you are one to comment; at least I don't have fleas."

" I don't have fleas. . .although sometimes I'lI get the wildest urge to do that thing, where you roll over and over in the grass, right before finding something really disgusting to . . ."

" Shut up." Snape's lips twitched with an unexpected twinge of humor. The picture of Lupin rolling around on the grass like a poodle was kind of amusing.

" Right." Lupin grinned.

They walked for a few minutes in blissful silence. Then Remus began to whistle a tune. Snape glared at him after a few minutes, and he stopped, but it was too late; he had the song stuck in his head. Unconsciously he began to hum it. Then they were both humming it.

Damn. It was going to be a long day.


	8. The Day goes on

" Do we have everything that was ever written on your subject of interest?" Remus asked.

They were both lugging sacks of books, and it was getting late.

" Actually yes. "

Lupin fidgeted a moment. Earlier he had tried to offer an opinion but Snape had told him to be quiet, and if he absolutely felt the necessity to talk it had better not be anything regarding Snape, Ginny, Houses, Hermione, Babies, or Lupin himself. That basically translated into;

" I am in an incredibly foul mood becasue of this excursion, so unless there is a bus about to run over me, or you see the end of the world approaching at break neck speed. . .don't speak to me."

But, since Severus seemed to be in a better mood, and was at least so burdened down with sacks that he couldn't reach his wand fast enough to hex him, Remus decided to try again to make a suggestion.

" Severus?"

" What" Snape asked wearily.

" I am sure you have your reasons for everything, but I have to ask you something."

" What is it?"

" Well. . .I was just wondering why you didn't simply. . .hire someone to build a house."

" Hire someone!"

"Yes. . .you know, a company that builds houses.''

Snape glared at him for long moment.

" and where was this suggestion before I spent that much time and money on books?"

" You told me not to speak. "

" I said unless it was important!"

" You said not to mention houses at all!"

" You didn't have to take me so literally! I meant I didn't want you asking questions and sticking your big Gryffindor nose in where it doesn't belong!"

" Haha! That means you didn't think of it did you!" Remus said.

Snape opened his mouth to come back with a nasty reply, but at that moment, two women in their fifties stopped to gape at them. One of them pointed to the two men, then turned to her friend.

" Lover's spat." she said knowingly.

Both men, turned to look at them, then back at each other. Lupin watched the puce hue began creeping up Severus' neck, and broke into uncontrolled laughter.

" Shut up!'' Snape hissed.

The two women began walking away.

" It is _NOT_ a lover's spat!" he yelled after them, causing a few more people to turn and gawk. Turning back to Remus, he glared.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to get his temper under control. Maybe if he closed his eyes and counted to a million.

" Would you. . .please. . .do me a favor?" he managed.

Remus had the good sense to not make a joke out of Snape's agony this time, instead he leaned closer, his face serious.

" If it is at all possible." he answered.

Snape pursed his lips trying to force the words out.

" I . . .need you to try to help me find . . .someone to build a house." he finally said.

Lupin nodded.

" Of course. . .but, what are _you_ going to do?"

Snape turned to face the shop window they had come to a halt in front of. It had a display of summery things in the glass, including a picnic basket.

" I am going to buy a birthday gift for someone." he said.

" Are you with us today?" Hermione asked.

" Hmm? Oh, yes. I was just. . .looking at this. " she held up a baby toy that she had not realized she had been holding.

They were in a Muggle baby shop, exactly where, she couldn't recall, and three times already she had thought about her dream of last night and went rather light in the head. It bothered her because she still believed that Snape was just playing, and was afraid that if she allowed herself to get serious, then he would pull away and disappoint her.

She had been convinced that she was not really interested in him, but apparently she was mistaken; and he still wasn't giving up. Now what should she do?

" Ginny?" Hermione poked her.

" What?"

" Please don't tell me that you are thinking about our darling ex-potion's master while wearing that look on your face?" she grinned.

" No! I mean, what expression?'

" You look like you just got caught reading a dirty book."

Ginny felt a Weasley blush begin climbing up her neck, and she flipped her hair around as if to say " really!"

' You were, weren't you? " Hermione laughed.

" Ssh! I don't want mother to know what is going on just yet." Ginny glanced over to see if she could spot her mother. Luckily, Molly was deep in conversation with Hermione's mother, and had not heard Hermione's exclamation.

"Oh. . .and just what is going on?" Hermione nudged her.

" Nothing. "

'' Nothing at all? Does that that mean you have or have not kissed him? "

" Hermione! "

" You have! Whew, I wish I hadn't asked. But if that is your thing, then snog away."

" We weren't snogging. . . we were kissing, and that is an entirely different matter."

" Oh. .. I see.'

" See what?"

" Sounds like he is starting to wear you down."

" He isn't wearing me down, he is confusing me. Why would Severus Snape want to try to win me over, that's what I don't get. I mean, I got you and Remus, everyone did, except for the two of you."

" It is pretty much the same situation now, Ginny. Everyone else gets it but you." Hermione said seriously.

" What is that supposed to mean?"

" Well, you are very pretty, fiery, seductive. . .you have a way of walking that makes men tremble. Are you going to see Severus tonight?" Hermione frowned.

" I. . .I . . .well, I don't know. Why?"

" Because unless you want him to get the wrong idea, I suggest you take a shower."

"WHAT?" Ginny asked, disbelieving, causing a few heads to turn. " Why did you say _that_?" she hissed.

Hermione raised a practical brow at her.

" Quite frankly, Miss Weasley, you smell like sex."

" I. . ."

" Don't try to explain it, I don't even want to know. "

" How can you. . ?"

" Are you kidding? For the last few weeks, I can smell just about everything. And the more you blush and daydream , the stronger it gets. "

Hermione gave her a little nod and a smirk before walking off down another aisle, leaving Ginny to gape after her a moment in shock. When she was sure that no one was watching she cautiously sniffed of the air. She smelled several types of colognes, and the familiar smell of department stores. . .but she failed to catch the sent of what Hermione had suggested.

Hermione was probably just playing with her, she thought. . .but that didn't stop her from occasionally sniffing the air around herself for the rest of the day, much to the dismay of several strangers who must have thought she was smelling of them as they passed. If she had noticed the odd looks she was receiving, she would have been mortified, but she was still wondering whether of not Severus would actually attempt to honor her wish and build a house. . .he had seemed quite upset when she had requested that it be built without any magic.

She did not know now why she should have even thought to say such a thing. She had never had to do anything in her life without the aid of magic. . .and knew very little about the Muggle world and it's management of construction. Yet for some reason at that moment it had seemed so important that he try it. Even if it never got finished.

But why do I make these stipulations?' she thought. Why can't I just say no, like I have to so many others? Because if he really was sincere, and you refused him, you know it would devastate him. . . the little voice in her head said. She wondered too, why did that little voice of truth always speak with Hermione's bossiness?

" Because, otherwise you wouldn't listen at all now would you?'' she asked out loud.

" Who are you speaking to dear?'" asked a kindly old woman at the counter.

" You know what?" Ginny said, whirling to face the stranger,. . ." I think he is the first man that has ever driven me to the point of near insanity. Yesterday I was a normal young woman, and today, I am talking to myself! what do you think of that ?"

The woman looked confused for a second, then smiled kindly, patting Ginny's hand confidentially.

" There there, don't worry. It's when you quit talking to yourself about them that you don't love them anymore."


	9. SevvyBaby

9

Ginny turned down Hermione's invitation to eat dinner with herself and Remus; not because Ginny didn't love their company, it was just that she was very tire, thanks to her dreams the night before, and she could think of nothing more inviting than long hot bath and a soft bed. She let herself into her house with a new found wariness, checking the corners and fireplace for anything new that Snape might have decided to share with her.

Surprisingly, she found no sign of him whatsover, not even a note, and despite herself she felt a little sad for the lack of it. Maybe she had asked too much of him this time, she thought with a sigh, as she slipped into her tub.

The water was delightful as it engulfed her, and she felt the exhaustion melt into pure relaxation. Muggle shopping always took so much out of her, since she had to concentrate so hard on not accidentally performing some feat of magic or another. Well, she didn't have to worry about here,did she? She dried off one hand on a lavender towel, and picked up her wand from beside the tub.

With a few quick charms she soon had the water roiling like a Jacuzzi, and a glass of pumpkin juice with a shake of rum in her hand. With the perfumed bubbles caressing her skin, she was reminded of how hard it had been to concentrate on anything that day; due to her body's sudden and inexplicable desire to drive her mad with arousal. One of hr hands disappeared under the water; and she touched her self. . .her breasts, weighing them in her hands. They were fine breasts, rather heavy, and oblong instead of hard round globes of flesh, but she thought they were nice enough. No one had ever complained about them before.

She pinched the nipple between her finger and made a small sound of satisfaction in her throat as the a little soft pleasure coursed through her. Next she slid her fingertips lightly down her skin, awakening all of the little nerves, so that they lit up and began singing.

" Ginny, stop it now. . .' she chided herself. '' If you keep going you'll just want more. . .''

But thankfully her hand didn't listen, and it continued to travel down over her founded pale belly, to the russet triangle f hair that covered her sex. She wound her elegant fingers in the tight curls and pulled gently; a sensation that was dull and remarkably pleasing to her. Further down, she slipped, until she could feel the thin tissue under her touch. She wasn't one for dilly-dallying around once she reached her destination. She dove straight for the most sensitive and swollen little bobbin of flesh, and began a vigorous circular motion.

She could never climax this way without the aid of fantasies, and she carefully cast about in her mind for just such a scenario. . .avoiding the most obvious one. She couldn't handle the thought of that one just yet. ..it would be too intense, like the first bite of a sour green apple.

She turned her head slightly to the side, and her eyes opened; as she imagined an erotic scene being played out on the blank white wall of her bathroom. She felt the inevitable first tingle that announced that she was passing the first half, and that now she only had to concentrate. Her muscles tensed, and she ground her fingers harder against herself, reaching for that glorious release.

And she almost found it. . .in fact she most definitely would have found it, had not a small movement in the outside of the bathroom caught her eye. Caught her eye? It damn near startled her out of the water. . .she had been focusing so much on the business at. . .er. . .hand, that she had not noticed that the adjacent bedroom was already occupied. She fumbled for the dropped wand, praying to herself that it was not an attacker lurking in the bedroom; and please don't let it be Snape spying on her!

" Lumos!" she whispered,and her wand ignited, displaying her apparently empty bedroom.

" No. . .I saw someone. Or something!" she hissed to herself, as she hastily tried to wrap a towel around her dripping body using only one hand. Stepping carefully over the side of the tub. . .she tiptoed to the bathroom door, holding her breath.

" Hah!" she leaped out into the bedroom, holding the wand forward in defense position. But nothing was in the room. Not a man, not a Dementor. . not even a stuffed animal.

She stood frowning at the room for a second, still wary, and wondering if she should do a tour of the house, or if that was one of those notions that gets otherwise seemingly brilliant young heroines slaughtered before the story's end. Ginny swallowed that thought and told herself that she was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. . .and if she wasn't brave enough to search her own house then she was most likely as unqualified for the post as Snape had once accused her of being.

So she flicked her wet hair back away from her face, and began creeping toward the bedroom door. She could just see the hallway through the crack between the door and the jamb, and was reaching toward her hand out slowly to open it further. . .when her bare foot connected with something.

Something slithery and alive.

With a screech she jumped back nearly the entire distance to the bathroom and aimed her wand at what she feared was a snake. Never mind the improbability of having a snake in your bedroom, when you were standing on it, probability didn't count.

It wasn't a snake. . .( which was an immense relief), but it was an Iguana, and that made Ginny incredibly suspicious. Iguana's did not just casually walk into people's houses. Especially violet iguana's with huge frilly bows on their backs.

Rolling her, she gave an irritated stamp of her foot. How could she have gotten so spooked over such a small matter? The light from the bathroom candle she had lit must have cast a larger than life shadow of the poor thing onto the wall. She angrily pushed her hair back behind her ears, and knelt down to see examine her new guest.

It regarded hr with patient eyes that seemed to say:

" Hey, after the day I have had. . .getting stepped on by a naked woman is the least of my problems."

There was a card attached to the bow, and she pulled it free. It was a regular Muggle birthday card, and for a moment she thought it must be a trick from Harry. But the card began to play music as soon as she touched it, and she knew only one person who would think that Chopin's " Funeral March" was an appropriate piece of music for a birthday card. She pursed her lips and closed her eyes,waiting for the music to end so that she could open the card. When it came at last to a shuddering and dramatic halt, she shook her head. Hopeless. . .completely hopeless.

Inside of the card, was a simple message, written in a hurried script.

" Happy Birthday!

I hope you enjoy your birthday gift. I was told by someone that every woman enjoys a pet, something cuddly and ' cute'. I was going to get you a cat, but the pet shop was sold out of them today, and this fellow seemed just as good. The saleslady informed me that he is ' leashed trained' and neutered. Just the same, it is a HIM, so please don't give him some incredibly sticky-cute name that will be painful for anyone to speak out loud.

Try to get ample amounts of rest tonight as I have a larger surprise waiting for you tomorrow, and if you like the lizard, you are absolutely going to love me for what comes next.

( or at least that is my greatest hope)

Goodnight,

S.S. "

She laughed a little at his words, imagining his voice reading the words. She had the sneaking suspicion though that someone, no doubt Remus had been very near to him while he was writing it, and apparently making suggestions. The part about being informed that every woman loves a pet. . .for one thing.

She returned the card to it's envelope, and it began playing the music over again. How. . .sweet? Now she could always touch the card and think of him. . .whenever she heard Chopin.

The lizard sat patiently still as she removed the bow from it's back. the poor thing had come from a Muggle shop, and been zapped right away with a color charm, a size charm. . .and who knew what else before being dropped into her house, probably via the fireplace. It must be wondering just what had gone wrong in it's crazy life!

" What am I going to do with you?" she asked him.

" What am I going to name you? Bernie? Randolph? Maybe something special to annoy Severus? that would serve him right for scaring me out of my wits, now wouldn't it, if he had to call you Goo-Goo, or Sweeticums? " she giggled to herself.

" I know,' she said, taking him into her arms and standing up. " I'll call you Sevvy-baby, just for a few days until I hear him say it once. Then, I think Bernie will do nicely. As for now though. . .I need to figure out what to do with you. You know what? I think I am going to kill Severus tomorrow. Yep." she continued mumbling as she returned to the bathroom.

Her tub was no longer warm or bubbly and she didn't feel like getting back in. With a swish of hr wand she had it cleared and dry. She deposited " Sevvy-baby'' temporarily in the tub, and went to her shower to clean the quickly drying soap bubbles out of her hair.

Well, she thought as the cool blast hit her; at least something had gotten her mind of sex. . .


	10. Surprise

She woke up the next morning rather suddenly. Somewhere between the state of blissful dreams, and ever approaching consciousness, a thought had struck her;

What was Severus planning for today?

The thought jerked her completely out of sleep, however far from being worried, she found that she was actually excited. Surprises always had that effect on her, and she whistled cheerfully to herself as she pulled on a robe and went into the kitchen to make tea. There was already an owl waiting outside the window, looking very irritated; it's feathers damp with dew.

It was Hermione's owl, bringing her a birthday greeting, ( without music, ) and a delicate looking carrot cake. A few minutes later, greetings began to pour in from her other friends and family. . .the Weasley owls taking up the entire window ledge. She scribbled out the many Thank You messages and sent all of the owls back to their owners; well rewarded for their efforts.

She thought about leaving everything in the jumbled piles on the table, but remembering that Severus was supposed to appear, she gave her entire house a once over with a cleaning spell; which meant that she levitated nearly everything except the new gifts and stuffed into her hall closet; locking and warding the door to prevent the junk from shifting and spilling out into the hall.

She had just finished when she saw Severus' owl tapping at the window. She hurried to open the glass, nearly tripping on her robe in her haste.

" Wear something practical and comfortable. "

Practical and comfortable? That was it? She turned the note over, and even held it up to the light, but there was no clue as to what he was planning. Not even a hint. With a sigh, she dropped the note to the table and informed the owl;

" Well, then I guess I had better be dressing." she gave it a treat and sent it back to it's snarky master.

She found something practical and comfortable in the back of her closet. Muggle clothes that Hermione had given her when they had gone to France. The jeans were a bit more snug about the thighs that she remembered and she had to give them just a tiny bit of a nudge with her wand to get the zipper closed. Not much, just a little bit of a loosening charm.

" No wonder, you've been eating like a pig. . .' she growled at herself.

True, since Severus had been around she had been out to lunch countless times, with either him, or Hermione; and her mother was always dropping by to keep the cupboards stocked with homemade goodies and treats, and they were either beginning to tell around her middle, or someone was ritualistically shrinking her britches behind her back.

She pulled on a lavender blouse, and tied hre hair back with a ribbon. Then she put on a white blouse and left her hair down. Then she tried a blue shirt, with a ponytail. . .then the lavender shirt again with a ponytail. . .then a french-braid and the white shirt.

" I have nothing to wear. " she stated to the mirror.

'' Then don't wear anything." it replied.

She stuck out her tongue at it, and put the purple blouse back on, leaving the french-braid.

" You looked better without the shirt." said the mirror. " And, I see we're gaining weight."

" Don't make me cover you. . ." Ginny muttered.

After a slight application of makeup, she felt a little more presentable; and she and Sevvy-baby, (whom she had almost forgotten until he scratched pleadingly at the side side of the tub) sat down at the table to enjoy a piece of toast and some tea.

After a few minutes, Ginny ws growing bored, and she took out her wand and transfigured Sevvy-baby into a flower, then back. Then she charmed him to grow long black hair. Greasy black hair. . .framing his little violet lizard face. Tracing her wand down is side she spelled out the words;

" Call me Sevvy-baby " 

and they appeared in green glittering script. She had just transfigured a pencil into a leash and collar set, when there was a knock at her door.

" Stay here, and don't. . .do anything, okay?" she told Sevvy-baby.

She began slowly un-warding the door, after peering through the spy-hole to make sure it was Severus, and not one of the twins come to give her some new sort of birthday fright.

She threw open the door, and anything that she had planned to say to him on the subject of her birthday gift was lost between her brain and her mouth when she saw his full person.

He was wearing a blue shirt with an overly large white and yellow tropical print splashed across his chest.The yellow was so bright, that it hurt her eyes when the sun shone on it. He also had on white hat, woven of straw, with a wide green band; sunglasses, and in one hand . . .a picnic basket. She had never seen such a spectacle as the formal Professor, looking exactly like a tourist, if one paid no attention to the grim set of his mouth, and the greyish pallor of his skin.

" Wh. ..what are you doing?" she asked, finally, as soon as she remembered to close her gaping mouth.

'' Humiliating myself for you. May I please come in?"

She stepped to the side, and he strode in, taking off the sunglasses as he passed.

" So, are you surprised?" he asked.

Oh yeah. . .incredibly surprised, " she choked down a laugh. " So, umm.. what are we going to do?" she asked.

" We are going on a picnic."

" A picnic! " she exclaimed, clapping her hands, like a young girl.

" May I assume that the idea is pleasing?" he asked.

" I love picnics! " She reached up to hug him, but he held her back.

" Wait a minute. . .where is your other gift?"

" Oh. Sitting on my table. I have been wondering where in your dark imagination did you deduce that a lizard was a suitable replacement for a cat?" she raised a brow.

" What? Don't you like him?'

" I don't know yet. . .he is showing some unusual personality traits."

" Such as?"

She gestured to the table.

" Eccentricity." she said.

It was Snape's turn to gawk as he was confronted by the image of the lizard in his hairstyle.

" That is not funny!" he finally said.

" Sevvy baby liked it."

" Who is Sevvy-oh no! Don't tell me that is what you named him!" Snape groaned.

" He chose it. " she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. He immediately stopped frowning at the lizard and turned his full attention to her mouth, but she pulled back before he could get a good taste.

" So when are we going?" she asked, a little breathlessly.

" Right now. "

" Can I take Sevvy-baby?" she asked, blinking innocently up at him.

" Yes, but if he gets splinched during apparation, I can't be blamed."


	11. Picnic

11.

" Don't open your eyes." he ordered.

He had told her to close them prior to their Disapparation, and she sqinched them even tighter after his command, making a deliberately comical face. Even with her eyes closed it was easy to tell there was water nearby. the refreshing fragrance of water filled her senses and made her smile. She always loved the water. . .there was something so exciting about it.

" Can open them now?" she asked as she felt him pull her towards the ground, until her knees were on the grass.

" No, Miss Weasley, you may not." he was moving around beside her and she felt his elbow bump against her arm as he rummaged through the picnic basket. She knew that was what knew that was what he was doing; she could hear the clanking of glass and the rustling of paper.

" Get out of there!" he snapped." Go on. . .get off the bloody blanket." he was poking the lizard, who had decided to see what was in the basket.

" Don't be rude to Sevvy-baby. . ." she chided.

" That is a ghastly name. . .no, wait, the most ghastly name, I have ever heard." Snape grumbled.

" How about Sweeticums?" she asked.

" The second most ghastly name."

" Snape Junior? He has got your coloring."

" Not if he doesn't get away from this basket. . .he is going to be pickled green. Okay. . .open your eyes now!"

Ginny opened them slowly, wincing a little as the sunlight assaulted her. She looked around her in pleased wonder. . .taking in the marvelous surroundings. He had chosen a scenic position on the grassy shores of a silvery lake. The light wind was causing the seemingly endless surface of the lake to sparkle and dance, so that it fluctuated between blinding beauty and hypnotic splendor. The sky above was an intense blue. . .nothing like the grey and misting sky she had left outside of her window.

It was difficult to tear her gaze from the stunning glamour of her surroundings; from the impossible green grass, and the brilliant colored butterflies that were attacking various bunches of scattered wildflowers. But she wanted to see him, and to let him see her, so she turned to face him, and saw that he was waiting expectantly, his breath held, and his eyes wide and glittery. Seeing her dazed expression, he sighed with relief.

" It is beautiful! " she whispered. " But. . .it isn't real, is it?"

" Yes it is. . .It is a special place that I come to quite often."

" Where are we?"

" I am not telling. . ." He smiled slightly. " It is a secret."

" Well, it is magnificent anyway. " she said. " What's in the basket?"

" A picnic." he replied, drily.

She gave gave him a wry smile and reached her hand over to open the basket. He slapped it away gently, and glared at her as she made a production of looking wounded. He turned the basket towards himself and flipped open the lid, so that she couldn't peek in, and took out first, a bouquet of silk flowers.

" I would have brought real flowers, but something tells me it would have been unappreciated. These are guaranteed to produce no wanted side effects, although the flinging of arms and the kissing of lips would be enjoyable. "

She took the bundle of flowers from him, and admired the white roses for a painstakingly long time before thanking him in the manner to which he was expectant. He found her teasing to be both annoying and intriguing.

" Now, shall we dine?"

" That sounds marvelous. But. . .I am not sure whether or not I should eat. How do I know if you poisoned the food? Or maybe. . .improved it in anyway?"

" If everything goes like I plan, I won't need any magic to turn you to jelly" he purred, and his voice had a deep silkiness that made her shiver with pleasure. He set out a loaf of bread, and took out a jar of marmalade. " and if you are still leery, you can always lie back and watch me eat." he added.

She saw the marmalade and it sent a jolt through her. The jar was different, of course, but there was still a familiarity to it that caught her attention. He didn't notice, nor did he realize that his words fell on her ears with a slightly different meaning that what he had given them. In fact, he was still busy unpacking grapes and cheese and pastries and cold ham, that it took him a moment to notice that she was not responding.

Glancing up at her, he caught her eyeing the marmalade, and slowly, she wetted her lips with the tip of her little pink tongue.

" Do you want some marmalade?" he asked, offering her the jar.

" What? Oh. . .no! I mean, yes, just not. . .now. " she answered hastily, brushing back some invisible strands of hair in her nervousness.

" Are you sure? There is plenty, and I have jam as well, if you prefer." He rummaged deeper and came out with several small jars of jams and jellies.

" No. . .no, that's fine. what is this?'' she gestured to a glass bowl.

" Eggs. " he proceeded to unpack wine, and apples, and more bread, and kippers. . .He must have charmed the basket to hold the great quantity of food, as well as the plates and glasses.

" We have everything but the candles, however if you desire candles I can produce them. " he poured out a glass of wine for her.

She clinked it against his glass and smiled.

" To the future?" she asked.

" Always. There is never any sense in toasting the past." he agreed.

They set aside the seriousness after that, and began to chat, ( or as close to chatting as Severus Snape could ever be accused of getting); speaking of everything from gossip to the newest research in Potions. After they had eaten almost as must as they could possibly hold, Severus gave his wand a lazy wave and cleared everything up except for the grapes and the wine.

They lay back on their elbows to watch the clouds for awhile. Eating the occasional grape, and seeing how many of them Sevvy-Baby could eat. After a few moments of comfortable silence, He rolled over to face her, and she was struck with just how unbelievable it was that she was sharing a picnic blanket with the snarky bat of a Potion's Master.

" Tell me something " he said.

" Tell you what?" she popped another grape into her mouth.

" Why were you staring at the marmalade?"

She felt her face flush again.

" I'll tell you that, it you will tell me something, first."

" That sounds disturbingly fair."

" Okay, tell me two things. First what does this place really look like, when you don't have this little glamour cast over it?" she smiled and bit the grape seductively between her teeth.

He opened his mouth to deny that he had created the heavenly atmosphere of the lake; but he realized that there would be no getting her to believe him without some serious and possible illegal spell work. So instead, he narrowed his eyes and stuck his great nose up into the air.

" Aren't we being a little too clever for our own good, today, Miss Weasely?" he huffed.

" I don't know. . ., are we?" she countered.

" Well, don't blame if you become shocked or depressed!" he snapped, not as sincerely as he hoped, and taking out his wand, he waved away the glamour.

She smiled as she watched the entire lake scene fall away and be replaced by a grim grey lake, with a flat surface reflecting occasionally the stark iron grey sky above. There was a green film growing over the water's top, and occasionally a frog or some other amphibious creature would fall off into the sludge with a thick splashing sound. The trees were now gnarled and twisted, with mosses and other vegetation falling from the branches like vaporous curtains, and the ground where they sat was spongy under the blanket which he had charmed to repel water.

Turning her head, she could just see a lacy iron fence surrounding them. . .it's intricate scrolled patterns nearly disguised by massive tangles of sly creeping ivy, and wild thorny roses. It was a garden, she thought. Wherever they were, it was a garden of sorts, and she suddenly felt an sudden feeling of love for this lace which was so dear to him. . .and so much more fitted to his persona.

" Leave it like this" she said. '' I think in it's own way, that it is even more beautiful."

" You didn't like the other lake?" he asked, frowning.

" I did. But it was beautiful in an everyday way. This way it is beautiful in a more. . .dark and unappreciated way."

" You are the first person that I have ever allowed in" he said.

" In? To the garden?'' she asked, in a soft voice, feeling their words begin to slip into a meaning beyond the lake.

" In. This deeply." he said, pointedly, and they had been leaning so close to one another that their noses were almost touching. It was only a fraction of an inch, she realized, before she could touch him.. . place a kiss on the sneering curve of his mouth.

She closed her eyes and was about to make the next move, when he stopped her, putting two fingers against her forehead to halt her advance.

" Just a minute." he said in answer to her confused expression. " What was the other thing you were going to ask me?"

" Ohhhh..." she grinned. " I just wanted to know, where on earth did you get that shirt?"

" Shirt?" he looked down at his forgotten apparel. Seeing the homely print, he groaned slightly. " Oh yes. . .from where do you think?"

" Remus?" she asked, raising a brow.

" Yes. He was being exceptionally . . .helpful. "

" Poor man. He's probably still a bit sore about that Boggart joke."

" Poor him. " he mocked, sarcastically.

" I don't care" she said, taking a handful of the shirt in her fist. " I think it looks very. . .fetching . . .on you."

" Fetching?'' he asked, pretending to glare.

She giggled, nodding.

" FETCHING!" he dug his fingers cruelly into her ribs, and was shocked and evilly pleased to hear her let loose a wail of protest sharper than any banshee ever dared to utter. Apparently, Miss Weasely was more than extremely ticklish. In fact, she shrieked, trying to writhe out from beneath his hands, her cries for mercy unintelligible. He would giver her mercy but not until he had exacted his punishment thoroughly upon her body.

At last, when there were tears falling from her eyes, and her face was nearly fuchsia, he ceased, but pinned her hands over her head so that she could not retaliate after she had regained her breath.

" Now, it's your turn." he said.

" T-to tickle y-you?" she asked, panting.

" No. Well. . .not at the moment. I want to know about the marmalade. . .?" he wasn't a spy for anything. . . he could tell that she was bothered by the jar.

" It's just that, due to a dream I had once, I don't think I will ever be able to look at marmalade in the same light.'' she said, innocently.

" Maybe you should tell me about this dream. . ." he murmured against her neck.

" Maybe I could show you." she said.

He raised his head up to look into her eyes, trying to determine what she was offering. Did she realize just how tempting she was lying there beneath him? He had both of her wrists clasped easily in one of his hands. . .and he was acutely aware of how much stronger he was than she . Her vulnerability was arousing and exciting; and he wanted to love her. Long and passionately, until she cried out in ecstasy, or swooned beneath him.

She saw those thoughts in his eyes, and felt her breath hitch in her throat,. She had never been with anyone that was so intense, and so mature; and she was nervous about allowing things to progress too swiftly. Instead, she wriggled free and sat up.

" How about you just read my mind? You can do that can't you? " she asked, smoothing her shirt.

" Yes. . .do you trust me enough to allow me in?"

" Otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned it. " she said.

Taking her face between his hands, he gave her a long look before muttering the spell under his breath.

It took only a second for him to find the memory, it was at the forefront of her mind, and it took him just a second to absorb it in perfect detail. He fell back from her, stunned and amazed, to catch his breath.

" Well, did you like it?" she asked.

" It wasn't too bad. . ." he allowed in a dry tone, after he had collected his senses. " The marmalade looked very . . .fetching . . .on you.''

" Fetching?" she raised a brow.

" Indubitably," he said, and giving her no chance to protest he jerked her against him, and swallowed her mouth in his own.

" Wait!" she cried out, a little panicky, as he tried to push her back onto the blanket.

" What?" a chill went through him at her flip-flopping emotions. " What is it?"

" Sevvy-Baby! He's under the blanket! We'll squash him! "

He reached around behind her and fumbled under the blanket, pulling out the lizard.

" Go on Sevvy-Baby," he snapped impatiently, " go swimming or something!"

" You said it!" she laughed as she was pushed fully back onto the blanket.

' ' Said what?" he mumbled against her lips. . .causing her head to reel.

" I can't remember. . ."


	12. A bit of a spat

A/N- Okay, this is actually part one of the original chapter. I wasn't sure whther or not the rating would be too high for here, so I am posting part one here. . .part two is availible only on my Adult Fan Fiction page. ( The link is in my profile.)

She had been correct about her earlier asumption. Having him kiss her in return made the experience three thousand times better. Maybe even four thousand times better she thought as he prodded her lips with his tongue. She opened to him willingly, finding that her resolve was slowly crumbling under the adamant and moist caresses. The kissed mouth to mouth, until a fierce need fr oxygen forced them apart, and they had to satisfy themselves with small shallow kisses across each other's faces. She found that he had particulary sensitive earlobes, and she kissed them experimentally. She had never had anyone else enjoy this, but she liked the way it made him groan deep in his chest; the vibrations coursed through her, like a massage, and she sucked the bottom of the lobe completely into her mouth.

" Ginny. . ." He gasped, as her tongue toyed with the delicate skin, and her fingers threaded gently into his hair, without a single hesitation at it's texture.

" Sev-er-us. . ." she answered, blowing warm air agaisnt his neck, and grinding her body slightly against his as one of his hands brushed across her breast.

He struggled to free himself, sitting upright, for a moment.

" Ginny. . .this is . . .I mean. "

She waited patiently, rubbing one hand over his thigh.

" I promised you, I think. ..that I would not progress to this point until I had built you a house, thereby proving to you my. .. intentions."

" I don't recall that we made any promises. . .'' she said. " and you have been a very good boy. " she added, tracing a finger up towards his hip.

" Ginny wait, I have to tell you something first."

" What is that?"

" Remember when you confronted Ron and he told you tonot aske him anything?"

" Yes?"

" That is because I wanted to be the first to tell you. . . something. I must admit I was going to wait and tell you after I had finally convinced you that I was sincere, and that I didn't have the most noble reason for doing so. But I can't. . .make love to you with this hanging over me."

She sat up under him, so that he was still stradding her legs, and they were face to face.

'' Well? If it's bad news. . .please don't wait, it just makes it worse." she daid, rather bitterly.

" I'll be blunt. I interrrogated both your brother, and Potter, in a very thorough procedure, and found ou that the candy that they fed to us. . .me, was enchanted. "

" I knew that! " she said wth relief. " That was why I insisted that you wait to see whether or not the effect wore off. After all there was no ohther reason why you want to kiss a Weas-"

" Will you kindly let me finsish?" he interuppted.

She snapped her mouth closed, turning rather red.

" However, the spell was only supposed to last for ten hours."

" Ten hours!" she exclaimed.

" Yes, they said that ten hours was more than enough for anyone to come to terms, so to speak. "

" Are you certain?"

" I examined them thouroughly, even took a few home to evaluate in the laboratory. "

' This is awful! " she said.

" Why? It proves I was right." he said smugly.

" No it doesn't!" she cried, suddenly giving a little sob.

" What do you mean it doesn't? I. . .I. ..don't understand." not one bit! he added to himself.

" Because that means you said you loved me when you were enchanted, but you have just been working so hard to seduce me just to be mean!"

" Just to be mean! What are you talking about?"

" You just wanted to prove me wrong, didn't you?"

" I would have been doing that whether or not the spell had lasted! You are talking utter non-sense woman!"

" See! And I was really starting to lo-like you, but you knew all along that it was just a farce."

" It is not a farce!" he took her by the shoulders and shook her.'' look at me, damn you! I am not going to aplogize to you, and i am not going to explain myself. You have caused me more suffering in a short amount of time than Voldemorte has done in the past twenty years! The difference is, I dont have one damn good reason to keep crawling after you, but I just keep coming back!"

He dropped her shoulders and stood to leave, stooping to find his wand in the rumpled blanket. She gaped at him in shock, absorbing his words.

" Don't leave me!" she cried, jumping up.

" Why shouldn't I? I am after all, just a mean person." he sneered.

Ginny threw her arms around his neck in one of those strange twists of personality that females possessed and males were unreasonably terrified of.

" You are mean! Your snarky. . .and rude, and intolerant, and I think I am beginning to fall in love with you." she kissed at his mouth, truying to unfreeze the stoniness of his demeanor.

" I do not understand you, nor am I impressed by these little fits of femine insanity and inconsistency." he muttered.

" Did you really threaten them not to tell me? " she asked agaisnt his ear.

" Yes."

" And did you really ask Hermione waht my favorite color was?"

" Yes"

" How did you know I liked picnics so much?"

" I had tea with your mother, and she let it slip."

Ginny released him suddenly.

'' You had tea with my mother?" she demanded in shock.

" Yes. .. several times." he answered, still sulkily.

" Does she know?" Ginny asked, in a hoarse whisper.

" Yes."

" And what did she say?"

" She said that if I was a wise man, I would find someone a little less wild, and a lot more loving."

" What did you say?"

He finally looked down at her, frowning, and gave a great sigh that came from the very recesses of the cold vault of his soul.

" I told her I had never considered myself a wise man."

Ginny grinned, and planted a kiss right on the bridge of his pompous nose.

" I'm sorry about my outburst. .. but you know what they say."

" No, what do they say?"

" Making up is the best part. ''

" I'll believe it when I witness it for myself." he said, lowering her back to the blanket.

( A/N Here is where part two of the unedited version begins. But we aren't going to put that here kids. Instead, you get the post-coital stuff that is absolutely necessary if we are going to continue our tale. )

Afterwards-

As his body relaxed against hers, her legs still locked firmly around his waist, he remembered that they had cast no contraceptive spell. With his face buried in her neck, he fumbled around in the blankets searching for his wand.

Ginny giggled a little, as his motions were highly pleasurable to her.

" What are you looking for? " she murmured, stroking his hair.

" My wand. Need to do contraceptive spell. .. "

" I took care of that already. '' she said.

'' When?"

" This morning."

" Do you take this precaution every morning?" he asked, nuzzling the soft skin where her shoulder met her neck.

" No...only since you started hanging around. I didn't want the thought of it to ruin any moment like this that might occur." she kissed his ear again. " And if I had known that it would be this good-"

" Shit!" he hissed between his teeth as though in sudden pain.

" What is it?" she asked, concerned.

He pulled away from her, grasping his arm.

" I am being summoned!" he said, his voice both irritated and disbelieving. Why was he being summoned now, of all times? " Oh no! Why now?"

Ginny sat up instantly laying a hand over his.

" Summoned? Do. .. you really have to go?" she knew he did.

" Yes." he jumped to his feet, not noticing his nakedness as he began gathering his clothes. She noticed it. . .and even though she was disappointed at the interruption, she took a moment to admire his slim form as he bent and twisted, trying to pull the pants hasitly onto his sweat dampened body. She was kind enough to return his shirt to it's original form, and handed it to him.

" I am sorry that this had to occur. . '' he said, kneeling down for a minute to kiss her. " Let me make a portkey for you so that you can return home. "

Ginny watched as he did a hasty spell on the basket, before standing once more. She too, rose to her feet, covering herself with the picnic cloth.

" Severus!" she called to him, just as he was prepared to disappear.

She knew he did not have much time, a summons from Voldemorte was not something to be ignored; however she couldn't let him go that easily. She threw herself into his arms one last time, pressing a kiss to his surprised mouth.

" Come back to me alive!" she ordered. " Promise me that no matter what, you'll come back to me alive!"

" I will come back. . ., I always do." he was confused by her request, yet he couldn't help but feel touched by the tone of fearful desperation in her voice. He gave her a slight, reassuring smile, and planted a small kiss on her forehead.

Then he stepped away from her and with a echoing crack of sound, he vanished.

Ginny wiped away a tear that was threatening to escape. . .chiding herself for being so stupidly emotional at a moment like this. She should be kicking up her heels, her body felt great! Exhausted, but great.

The picnic cloth had fallen away from her while she was kissing him goodbye, and now she felt a little chill. The day must be growing rather old, and it was time to go home. She dressed herself slowly, using a temporary charm to hold her blouse together. It took her nearly ten minutes to find Sevvy-Baby, who had crawled into a short thick leafed plant to sleep.

With one last sigh, she swept a last look around, and couldn't help but grin. This was definitely going to be one of the best memories she had, just as soon as she could convince her own overwhelmed mind that it had actually happened, and was not just another wicked and beautiful dream.

No...she thought. . .her dreams had never been so good.


	13. The harbingers of bad news

14.

She spent the next hour in an exhausted daze. . .still glowing from orgasmic bliss. She had never been one to cuddle with lovers afterwards; she was a restless person who could not waste several hours simply lying. However the first thing she did when she returned to her home, was to drop everything in the kitchen, go straight to her room and collapse onto her unmade bed. She knew that she should bathe, before she fell asleep, but there was something so . . .comforting about his scent still lingering in her senses that she wanted to stall as long as was possible.

Besides, bathing would take an awful lot of energy, of which she had none to spare. There was the walking to the bathroom, the running of the water, undressing. . .no, it was simply to much at the moment. She would rather lay, searching for the answers as if they might be carved into the ceiling like commandments etched in stone.

If it were only that easy! Well, it wasn't exactly difficult, but it wasn't so simple as simply saying '' Oh, that's my boyfriend.''

He wasn't. In fact she couldn't manage to imagine that particular tidbit of titular vernacular ever applying to Severus Snape, no matter how far advanced there relationship might become; and she couldn't exactly think of another suitable phrase. She tried a few variations, and shook her head lazily at each utterance.

" We're lovers. . ." It rang of rose-lit romanticism, and numerous encounters.

" We're together. . ." sounded oddly aloof, as if the situation were arranged by nonchalant mutual agreement instead of spontaneous attraction.

"We're seeing each other." A little more appropriate but hardly accurate, and definitely not simplistic after you attached all of the '' hereto for's ' and '' there withins '' of this new and yet sketchy relationship.

Aha! That was it;

" We are founding a relationship. . ." ( all donations would be appreciated.)

Maybe not.

Maybe she just wasn't serious enough to deserve a relationship. Other women had relationships, where they spent long hours discussing the pro's and con's of each individual moment, dissecting every word nuance and action he performed to see if somehow it boiled down to a personal criticism. She might have her feminine surges, but she was a Weasley, and she could never be serious enough to be that paranoid.

She fell asleep face down across the bed, still trying to devise the perfect term to use if someone should ask her what was '' going on between them".

" Well, my brothers best friend fed my ex-professor, and now teaching rival, a doped chocolate, so I had to knee him in the undercarriage to get his attention,and then he confessed to love. . ."

" Ginny? Are you alive?'' someone poked her foot.

" Severus?" she mumbled into the sheets.

" Hardly. Blimey, I thought you were dead."

" Ron? " Ginny turned over and began rubbing her eyes. " What are you doing here?"

Ron tucked his wand back into his pocket and turned away, noticing her blouse had come undone.

" I told Mum I would come and find you. You didn't come to the meeting tonight, your Floo was closed, and nobody has heard from Snape." Ron gave a little nod toward the bathroom door.

" He isn't in there? Is he?" he rasped in a hoarse whisper.

" Who?' Ginny was still shaking the dreams from her head.

" Snape?"

" Why don't you go look ? " she sat up, and glared at Ron with some irritation. " As far as I know, he isn't in there, and I am not dead. "

" Why didn't you come to the meeting?" Ron asked, nudging the bathroom door open to have a look anyhow. He seemed disappointed that he didn't find a guilty Professor hiding behind the door.

" Because I fell asleep." she answered in a false-cheerful soprano.

" Yeah. You were really knocked out." he wandered out of her bedroom, towards the kitchen, and she heard him open the coat closet and the pantry on his way through.

Shaking her head in defeat, she rolled off of the bed and followed. Luckily she was halfway to the door when her mirror, in the shocked tone of a grandmother seeing a scandalous new garment, screeched at her;

" Where do you think you are going, young lady?" it demanded. " Just look at yourself!"

Ginny obliged.

" Your hair is a mess, your blouse is torn! Torn I tell you! Now how did that happen?"

Ginny blushed.

" And look at your face. . .all red and blotchy. You were sleeping on your stomach weren't you? A lady should never sleep face down, it makes the eyes puffy!"

The mirror went on with it's lecture while Ginny hastily changed her shirt and combed her hair. When she sneaked out of the room, it was still in the middle of a somber dialogue about how a beauty nap did absolutely no good if you looked worse after waking.

She found Ron in the kitchen, rooting through her food stores.

" Did Sev-uh, Snape come to the meeting ?'' she asked, automatically handing Ron one of the boxes of Every Flavor Beans she kept on hand for his visits. He stuffed six or seven into his mouth, before answering.

" Nope. Thought he was with you."

" No. Well, he was, but he had to go somewhere."

" Yeah. . .he was summoned. Dumbeledore was pretty concerned."

" Why?"

" He thought that maybe the two of you had been discovered somewhere, and attacked by Deatheaters."

" Why would he think that?"

" Because there was another man working for the ministry that was squealed on, and the Deatheaters killed him this afternoon. Found out he was a double agent, and they killed him, his wife, their son, and their infant twin daughters. They think they might even have killed his wife's grandmother. . .they can't find her anywhere."

" That's horrible. I didn't know that there was another double agent.'' she said quietly. " But we weren't attacked. We were having a picnic. See?" she gestured to the basket.

Ron shrugged. He kept looking toward the guest bedroom, as if worried any moment that a Deatheater was going to pop out and hex him green.

" See anybody suspicious while you were out?" he asked.

" No. .. we were completely alone."

He squinted at her, and she sensed the onslaught of a brotherly lecture. Ron could be overwhelmingly protective at times. . .and sometimes incredibly bossy. She was in the mood for neither trait at the moment. She was worried about Severus.

" All clean .'' someone called from the other room.

" Who is that? " Ginny demanded.

" Tonks."

" Tonks? What is Tonks doing in my guest room?''

'' Nothing you would have to censor in a family friendly environment." Tonks said laughing. " I was sent to be certain that nothing suspicious was in your house."

" Why?"

" Because she is an Auror, and that's what they do." Ron answered.

Ginny heard something crash to the floor and break. Something that sounded painfully like her blown glass unicorn.

" Don't worry I can fix it!" Tonks called. " As soon as I get my foot unstuck." A small feminine grunt was followed by a dull thud.

" All right, Tonks? '' Ron called.

" Yes. Don't worry, I don't think the floor was scorched. "

Ginny winced visibly. If the floor was scorched, it would cost her a lot of money, and a good explanation to the house's owner. She was about to open hr mouth and call to Tonks to just please vacate the room. . .when Tonks barreled out of the door, face flushed, and hair disheveled. She had long spiky violet hair that was halfway between being cute, and making her look like an exotic weed in bloom.

When she reached up to brush a lock of it back, a large engagement ring flashed in front of Ginny's eyes. So. . .Charlie had actually done it. Ginny finally gave in and smiled. Only Charlie would have given a woman an engagement ring with dragon scales engraved on the silver band.

" It's a lovely ring, Tonks."

" What? Oh. ..yeah.. .bit scaly though, really, but it's Charlie. You have to love him." she grinned.

" Glad someone does." Ron said from the hall bath, where he was checking behind a shower curtain for rogue assassins.

" So. . .when are you getting married? "

" Oh, I don't think we ever decided. We were waiting to see whether or not we liked being engaged first. '' Tonks passed by Ginny, casting a rather greenish glow as she checked for spells, hexes, Portkeys, or suspicious wards. She stopped in front of the small hall closet.

" This is warded. " she announced.

" I know. Tonks! Don't! It's full of. . .''

Too late Tonks blasted open the door, and Ginny closed her eyes, hearing all too well the crash's and bangs the carefully stacked junk falling out of the closet. See had used magic to cram it all in, but it need no assistance in tumbling to freedom. Photograph albums, books, pencils, souvenirs, stuffed animals, trinkets, clothes, musical instruments she had never learned to play. . .spread across the floor in a an ocean of chaos.

" Sorry!" moaned Tonks.

" Wow Gin, what was all of that doing in the closet?" Ron watched cross-eyed as a feather from a quill floated down lazily past his nose.

" I cleaned house." she stated.

" Must be a special relationship. You never cleaned house for Harry."

" Shut up."

" You dated Harry?' Tonks asked. She was trying to stuff the junk back inside, but it would have none of that. . .not now that it was free again.

" Only for a week or two. Just leave it Tonks, I'll get it later."

" Two weeks." Ron affirmed. " One day he got lost on the sofa and we had to dig him out with a pick axe.That's when they broke up."

" Don't be ridiculous." scoffed Ginny." We didn't ' break up'. We '_drifted apart'_."

" You drift apart from all of your beau. Some drift more speedily than others."

" Ron...'' she said, with a tone of warning in her voice. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Tonks examined the living room.

" Some practically pick up there robes and flee."

" All right, that is enough! " Ginny barked, sounding disturbingly like her mother. " Are you here for a purpose, Ron Weasley?"

" You mean, on this earth or in this room?" he asked with a smile of faux innocence, unable to resist an opportunity to drive his baby sister a bit batty. ( Not that she needed any help, in his opinion. . .anyone that would willingly see the Snape as a suitor.)

" Both. But start with '' why in this room'' ?" she quickly re-charmed all of the closets contents to return to the inside, and locked the door.

" Ginny. . .I have to tell you something important, but first I have to ask you a question. Don't get mad at me, please." Ron scrunched his face up in an expression of apprehensive squeamishness.

'' Going to check the bedroom! " sang Tonks from the kitchen.

" There is no one suspicious in my bedroom." Ginny stated. They would have had plenty of time to evacuate if they had been in there, she thought.

" Oh, well. . .don't despair, there is always hope for the future. " Tonks replied in her characteristic cheeriness.

" Well. . .what's the question?" Ginny asked Ron, crossing her mental fingers that he didn't ask any thing embarrassing or tell her something exceptionally horrid, like they found Severus in pieces, or the Burrow had been attacked.

" Well. . .er. . .is this thing, between you. . .and Snape; is it real? "

" I believe so." she answered in all honesty.

" I mean, has he given any indication that it is something more than just. . .I mean. . .you know, not real?"

" Well, he told me I looked real, and that I got to him in a good way. " she smiled.

Ron's eyebrows shot up in skepticism and he wrinkled his nose slightly.

" But seriously, yes, he has given me. . .plenty of indication that he is serious."

" Can you prove that you were with him today at four o'clock in the afternoon?"

" What?" she asked softly." Prove he was with me?"

" Yes. And it should be fairly believable."

" Why?" Ginny was genuinely confused.

" Ginny, I am going to be perfectly blunt. Severus Snape is under suspicion for murder. . ."


	14. Back to the Burrow

A/N-I thought that last chapter would get everyone's attention! Okay, I thought long and hard about it, and decided to use an original character name for the spy who was killed. I considered all of the canon names but finally arrived at the decision that I couldn't sleep in good conscience with their details on my hands. Besides, I wanted it to be someone that Ginny was basically unaware of so that her focus would be mainly on Severus, instead of the victims.

**Erica Dawn:** Thanks for the reviews. I enjoy seeing the bits you quote. . .it gives me better ideas of what the is the best received. And that was my very own closet making an appearance in this story. Rather like a literary cameo.

* * *

A moment of shocked silence ensued, followed by an short hiccup of indrawn breath into Ginny's body. Ron reached out one hand tentatively, either to steady her in case she decided to sway, or to fend her off should she decide to attack him. She did neither, but remained standing as rigid as flag pole, her eyes boring into him.

" You. . .don't mean that?" she finally challenged, her voice soft, and disbelieving.

" They suspect that he might have been the informant that alerted the Deatheaters about Demetrius Gold's double role. Dumbledore is certain Snape is innocent, but the fact that no one can find him does little by way of proving it."

" Are people looking?"

" Yes. Lupin, and Moody are actually physically searching for him. There is a network of course, of people who will report immediately to Dumbledore if he is spotted. . ."

" Why would he have turned over a fellow ally to the Deatheaters?" Ginny demanded.

" I don't know Ginny. . .maybe there are plenty of reasons."

" Name a few, I need some enlightenment." she rubbed her temples.

" Well. . .he might really be a loyal Deatheater, and we were the fools all of these years."

" I refuse to believe that.'' Memories of the faint lines of scarring across his chest. Small silvery cobwebs mapping out a highway of pain and suffering that no mortal could have tolerated without a good reason; and she refused to believe that his reasons would be so black.

" Fine. What about, if he wasn't really, you know,. . . crooked, then maybe they threatened to harm you, and he gave them a decoy. Like a sacrifice."

" How would anyone know about me? And why would they threaten me? I'm as pure-blooded as any of them, as much as the Malfoy's might hate to admit it."

Ron shrugged.

" I guess if you get desperate enough, you'll threaten anyone about anyone. . .and in return, they will move out of desperation." Ron sighed, seeming more mature for a moment than she had ever seen him.

" I want to go look for him." she announced. " I don't believe he did it, and I am going to prove it." she made to move past him, but he caught hold of her and held tight.

" Sorry, but no. I am afraid Dumbledore anticipated that reaction. He said you are to do no such thing, and he and Mum decided that you should pack a bag and move back to the Burrow for the time being."

" Back to the Burrow! Tonight? It's almost midnight! Why on earth would I want to do that?"

" They all think it would be safer, just until this is resolved."

" ' They' certainly think a lot." Ginny sighed. Well, it wouldn't hurt to go to the Burrow. If Severus did return and couldn't find her here, he would look there next. Then Grimmauld place. . .and maybe, just maybe, if she were there, instead of here, she could be of some assistance.

" All right. But you can help me to pack. '' she agreed wearily.

If she weren't concerned about Severus, she would not have agreed so easily, and Ron, sensing this, gave a silent prayer of thanks to whomever ruled the heavens at that particular moment. He had expected that it might take both he and Tonks and several binding charms to get Ginny Weasely through a doorway if she had made up her mind to remain on the opposite side.

This was a victory worthy of two or three rounds later at the tavern. Especially after she had finished bossing him on the proper way to pack a suitcase.

" You don't pack your own clothes like that do you, Ronald?" she had demanded after she had turned from the closet just in time to see him stuffing a wadded up handful of clothing into the case.

" Why not? It's just clothes." he had grumbled, smoothing out the top layer. " Anything else?"

" Could you reach under the bed there and pull out that pair of shoes. No. . .to your left."

" Yeah, got it. .. wait. What the?" Ron let out a girlish shriek and fell back onto his bottom. " What the bloody hell is that?" he stammered shrilly, gesticulating wildly to the dark space beneath the bed.

" What is it?"

" Something damn well under there. . .it touched me!"

Ginny had her own wand drawn, and was halfway to the bed when Tonks, fresh from giving a report to Dumbledore via Ginny's fireplace, ran into the room and crashed into her back. They both stumbled, sprawled across the floor, where a simple Lumos spell revealed the cause of Ron's hysteria to be none other than Sevvy-Baby, who seemed a bit perturbed about having been woken from his nap.

Ginny blew her hair out of her face, and laughed.

" That is just Sevvy-Baby! " she explained. " I guess he crawled under there for a nap after our picnic."

Ginny might have known what she was talking about, but Ron and Tonks went right to the wrong conclusion, and gave each other a puzzled look. Tonks got to her knees and held up her own wand trying to see under the bed.

' He's. . .under the bed?" Ron asked, carefully.

" Yes. ..he likes the dark."

They exchanged another look behind Ginny's back, and Tonks mouthed the words;

" I looked under the bed. . ."

" I think you scared him Ron. Come on Sevvy-Baby.'' Ginny slithered under the bed on her belly, trying to coax the pet into her arms. " I don't know if he'll come out or not, now. I hope he didn't leave a mess under there."

" Ginny. . .maybe I am a bit daft, but. . .why is he under the bed ?" Ron gave a short perplexed little laugh, and Tonks rolled her eyes around the room as if a solution might appear.

" You mean, Sevvy-Baby? He is still shy. See, I got him . . ." she gave a little grunt and pulled him out of the shadows. He had dust bunnies stuck to his scales, and cobwebs clung to his toes. " . . . as my birthday present So I have only had him a couple of days. Gosh, look at you. . .your a mess! " she cooed.

Ron looked at the lizard, then looked at Tonks. She looked at the lizard, then looked at Ron. They both looked back down to the violet iguana, then back at each other. They exchanged a sheepish grin, that quickly morphed into hearty laughs. The good healthy ones that happened after comical misunderstandings. Ginny, who had been carefully de-fuzzing the lizard, looked up in surprise, then grinned herself. She didn't know yet what was so funny, but it was funny to see them laugh so hard.

" Okay, what is so funny?' she finally asked.

" I th-thought you had Snape stuffed under the bed! You said ' Sevvy-baby', and I imagined him. . .all curled up under there. .. "

" I hope he didn't leave a mess under there!" Tonks repeated Ginny's words and they went into hysterics again.

" Are you sure it isn't Snape in disguise?" sniggered Ron.

" It has. . .his. . .hair. . ." said Tonks, her face red from lack of oxygen.

" Whenever you two are finished." Ginny said, standing so that she could dust the cobwebs from the front of her blouse and jeans.

" So let me guess. . .who gave you the lizard?" Ron pulled a somber face out of his pocket, and tried to hold his trembling lip still.

" It is an Iguana. And Severus did give him to me."

" Aww. . .isn't that . . .sweet?" Tonks asked, her voice skippery due to suppressed chuckles.

" I thought so. He said he was going to get me a cat, but they were sold out."

" Did he dress it up to look like that? " Ron regarded Sevvy-Baby a moment.

" I did the hair. "

" Oh ...and it is_ really_ named. . .Se-Sev-Sevvy-Baby?" Tonks gave a snicker at his question.

" No. that is his nick-name. His full name is. . .Bernard Randolph, Lord Weasely. You may call him. .. Bernie.''

" I'm not calling that thing any name. He scared the hell out of me." Ron stated.

They were still arguing half an hour later when they tumbled out of the Floo and into Mrs. Weasley's living room.

" You're scared of anything that isn't Quidditch."

" Not true. I was never scared of you."

" I am Quidditch."

" No your not."

" I played Quidditch, I was on a broom, in uniform and I had the snitch in my hand, That qualifies me as Quidditch, and therefore_, you_ aren't afraid of me. "

" That doesn't mean you are Quidditch. . "

" I wasn't talking about literally, Ron, I mean it as a representation. Theoretically, you can deign to speak to me, because I have had something to do with Quidditch. I bet that if I dress Sevvy-I mean, Bernie, in a Quidditch uniform and teach him to wave a flag, you wouldn't be so reviled."

" I would so." stated, indignantly. " and you couldn't get him to do that, even if would be really wicked cool."

" Wicked cool? I could make Sevvy-Bernie wicked cool any day."

They were now in the Weasley kitchen arguing, and Mrs. Weasley came bustling in, hands on hips, to see what the commotion was about.

" If you can't make the grown-up Snape cool, then there is no way you can make junior there any cooler either!"

" Ronald Weasley!" bellowed Molly." Is that how you talk to your sister? '' she turned to Ginny with wide shiny eyes. . " What is he talking about?' she asked.

Ginny looked sheepish. She should not have allowed herself to be lured into such a childish argument now; when there were more important things to consider. However, winning an argument with Ron slid in the number two priority slot on her list of important goals to accomplish for the day.

" I insulted her lizard and now she is saying that I am afraid of anything that isn't Quidditch." Ron grumbled.

Mrs. Weasely narrowed her eyes, and gave Ron a tight lipped look that said she was not quite sure if she wanted to ask him to clarify himself or not. Instead, she turned to Ginny.

" And who, if I might ask, is Snape junior?"

Ginny held Bernie up, and Molly stepped back what appeared to be twelve feet in a single stride.

" Ginevra Weasley. . .get that thing out of this house, this instant!"

" I can't. Severus gave him to me as a birthday gift."

" Really! What kind of man gives a girl a reptile for her birthday!"

That, thought Ginny, was a really good question, and whenever someone could determine it's answer, she wanted a copy.

" I don't know Mum, I really don't."


	15. Hermione Finds an Answer

A/N-Well. . .I have hit a sluggish spot, and for some reason it got too serious too fast. Hopefully, I can get it the train back on the funny track soon.

Thanks so much for the reviews everyone! They never cease to amazeme, amuse me, and warm my wee heart!

**S.M. Rahl-**I myself counted fourteen typos. Hopefully they are all corrected now.

**dubtheeunforgiven-**I would love to see Snape explainig that to a proper jury! And, think what fun they would have if they used a Pensieve to check the facts!

: **SeverusSnape'sLove- **Thanks for the faithful reviews. The best complient is to think of someone reading this in the middle of night and trying not to laugh out loud!

**-Hermione finds and answer-**

Ginny had politely refused any offering of comfort food, and chose instead to go straight to the bath, and then to bed. Only after she was curled up safely in her old bed, fingering the well-washed lavender sheets absently, could she get her thoughts together successfully. The best way to sort through this was to back-track through her mind, organizing the events of the day.

She skipped briefley through her morning, noting that it was approximately eleven in the morning when they had departed for their picnic. She skipped through the details of the outing, not wanting to dine on regurgitated sex fantatsies while lying in the bed she had been a child in. It seemed oddly wrong.

" What time was it when you returned?' she asked herself.

Think about it. The clock, on the kitchen shelf. . .what did it say? She mentally walked her self through the steps. She had been pulled by the Portkey into her kitchen, which had been rather dim. After four o'clock? It had to be! She had set the lizard on the floor, and the basket on the table, flipping the top open to see if any of the food was inside that would spoil and ruin the wicker. Inside had been his white straw hat, and the sunglasses. She had taken out the hat, and fingered the brim in an amused fashion before returning it to the basket.

Then she had gone back to her bedroom and collapsed.

She couldn't believe she had been stupid enough to not look at a clock as she passed through the house. She couldn't even recall how far down the sun had been, and she felt hot tears threaten to leak out at her own foolishness. Irritated, she punched her pillow soundly, and tried to fall asleep, hoping that tomorrow might bring about answers. .. or better yet, Severus himself.

Eventually she managed to doze off into a fitful slumber, where she fought and argued with Dumbeldore about Severus. It was a loop dream, and no matter what she did, she kept getting caught in the same nightmarish episode over and over. . .until she finally fought herself awake.

Her head was rattling with choppy images of clocks, Severus, the grey lake behind them as they reached for each other but could never touch hands because a Deatheater came in between them. She had ran around the Deatheater, and there was Ron and Dumbledore, holding clocks, and reciting the litany;

" Did you see the time, did you see the time?"

" I didn't see the time becuase he was with me!" She had argued, and when she sat up in bed, sweaty and confused, she realized she had been muttering that aloud.

Shaking her head proved to be unwise. . .it only made her very dizzy, and it didn't help the pictures to go away. She thought about going back to sleep, but the clock on the nightstand read that it was nearly nine o'clock. Maybe someone had heard some news!

She jumped out of bed, showered as quickly as she could manage, and went down the stairs at the dangerous speed that had given her father many nightmares over the years. He had told her many times that when she died, it would be from falling down the stairs, headfirst. As dizzy as she was, it was nothing short of a miracle that she did not fulfil his paternal prophecy.

She hit the ground floor in one piece and running, skidding around the doorway of the kitchen, fully prepared to see Severus sitting stiffly at the well scrubbed table.Or Tonks, or Remus,. . . come to deliver the good news. Or even the bad news. . .she would settle for any news.

But no one was in the kitchen except for her mother, and she was solemnley cleaning the kitchen; the remains of breakfast waiting coldy on the table, barely touched.

" Oh, Ginny, good morning, dear." she said, wiping her hands on her pink apron.

" There hasn't been any news, has there?"

" No. . .not from Severus, anyhow."

" Well, has there been any news at all?" Ginny sat at the table, and helping herself to cold tea, and a roll.

" Yes. . . they found the grandmother. You know, the one that was missing? She was alive, and hiding in the fireplace of a neighboring house. She was well enough to give a description of what occurred. . ."

" And?"

'' And, it doesn't look too good. She reported that a single man came into the house. He was robed in black with a white mask. A Deatheater of course, but she had never seen one. They asked her over and over if he was alone, and she said yes. He was alone, and he took them by surprise, so Gold was unarmed. The Deatheater rounded the entire family into the corner. . ., no the grandmother of course, she was hiding in the cupboard. . ., but Gold, his wife and children. She said he questioned Gold, over and over again, then when he wasn't satisified with the answers he. . ."

" He what?"

" He, well. . .he tortured the woman and the children. Apparently, he forced Gold to watch."

Ginny closed her eyes against the images that flooded in, a lone figure in a billowing black robe pointing a wand towards the cringing family. The children were probably crying. . .Gold would have been pleading.

Severus could not do that, Ginny told herself. Not after they had made love so sweetly by the lake, not after he had so patiently indulged her in her trifling feminine wishes. It was inconceivable. and if something is impossible, then that means that something else is possible. . .and she had to find out what wa spossible.

It _was_ possible, if not probable, that Severus had been set up, but she did not know enough about the inner politcal machinations of Voldemorte's following to be able to decide a motive. He could have been found out as a double agent, but she doubted they would have taken aside the time to set him up for murder when it would have been much more sadistically gratifying to torture him to death. After all, it wasn't like he had an astounding reputation to save. . .

The murder of Gold, confusingly, was both too much and too little. Too much for a little revenge plot, and too sloppy to be a good Deatheater job. That meant that whomever had done the job was either crazy, or an idiot, and Ginny's bet was that it was probably a little of both, with a leaning tendency toward idiot. What kind of a villain forgot to search the house for other witnesses?

She splashed her tea into her lap when a man Apparated into the room suddenly, knocking against the table.

" Oh. .. so sorry Ginny, I must have twinged a bit leftwards." Remus said with a gentle smile.

" _What_ is all over your _clothes_?"

" Hmm? Oh, that's. _. .mud_. I think. Did Hermione arrive yet?"

" No. . ."

" She has to come through the Floo now. . .doctors orders. " Remus grinned briefly.

Ginny gave a smile back. She couldn't help it, good things came and went, but Remus was always the same.

" Goodness! Remus, you gave me a start!" Molly exclaimed as she stepped back in from the garden, fresh cut flowers in hr hand.

" Mother. . .the flowers!" Ginny warned, covering her nose.

" Sorry dear." Molly casually put a bubble spell around the flowers to keep their pollen contained.

A loud swoosh from the living room fireplace announced Hermione's arrival, and Ginny leaned back in her chair so that she could watch as Hermione brushed the ashes from her outfit.

" I don't know why he won't let me Apparate! I know I _am not_ going to splinch myself, but travelling through the fireplace is dirty! And hard, I landed _hard_!" she grumbled.

Remus was at her side in a split second, asking if she were all right, and if she needed anything. Hermione shot him a look of good natured irritation, and was about to say something to the effect of;

''You know that you are parnoid, right?" when he covered her mouth in a kiss, to shut her up.

Ginny shook her head, and finished mopping the tea out of her lap, expecting the display of emotion to be over when she looked back. It wasn't. Now they were practically wrapped around each other!

"Hermione!" she barked.

" What?" her friend asked, whirling pulling away from Remus with a strong suction sound. " What is it?"

" It is much too early to watch _you_ eat _him_ for breakfast."

" Ginny Weasley, watch your_ mouth_! " Molly flapped a dishtowel against Ginny's head in a way that, if it was supposed to convince her of her mother's sincerity, rather failed. It was hard to believe she was appalled when she was blushing and grinning so.

Hermione straightened her dress, and with a toss to her hair and an elbow to Remus' ribs, she marched into the kitchen in her old bossy fashion.

" Morning Ginny."

" Hermione."

" All right?"

" I guess so." Ginny answered honestly. Then she grinned slyly." And how about the two of you? _Still _no regrets?"

" None at all."

" And they said that it would _never_ last this long."

Hermione laughed, then broke it off so that she could sniff the air.

" What is that I _smell_? "

" Breakfast?"

" No. . .it smells kind of stale, like a river." she frowned, and wrinkled her nose.

" Can you smell that Remus?"

He sniffed the air too.

" Yes. It's something like a snake. . ."

" A snake? _Oh_. . .no, not a _snake_. Don't panic, _I_ know what it is." Ginny set down her cup and ducked under the table. She returned with Bernie.

" Ugh! What_ is _that?" Hermione covered her nose.

" It's an _Iguana_! Severus gave him to me for my birthday."

" Ha! That figures. What is with the _hair_?"

" What, you don't like that? It's all the rage in lizard fashion these days." Ginny tilted Bernie back so that she could look into his beady eyes." She's a critic, eh, Bernie? She doesn't see just how cute you are."

" Cute! Eeesh he smells bad! "

" I can't smell him." Ginny stood up and opened the back door. " There. . .go play in the garden."

" Aren't you afraid he will run away?'' Remus asked.

" No. I put a binding spell on him. He'll come back. " I only wish I had thought to put one on _Severus, _she thought to herself.

" I have to be going." Remus announced upon, checking the time on a pocket watch. Ginny caught look of worry flicker through Hermione's eyes, and the realization struck her that Remus was depositing her here so that she wouldn't be home, alone and worrying.

Also, if the Deatheaters were out, he wanted her tucked into a safe haven while he was away. An unnecessary measure, but one that showed how enamored he was with her _almost_ as much as the soulful lovesick expression in his eyes.

Ginny felt a twinge of loneliness in her chest at seeing them together. It was like a cold sweep of air into her lungs, and it _hurt. _. .she had never felt soemthing like that before. It lingered long after Remus had promised that they were going to do everything in their power to find and secure Severus before any ministry officials did. It lingered all afternoon as she and Hermione alternated between keeping each other company and getting on each other's nerves.

Hermione however, wasn't one to let someone sit about and mope, not even for a good reason. She pestered Ginny until she agreed to allow her to help with the lesson plans for school, and before dinner Hermione had drawn up enough work for the entire school year, plus enough extraneous homework assignments to ensure that Ginny would never be a popualar teacher again.

Then the two of them sat in the garden, where Ginny watched with morbid fascination as Hermione ate slices of raw onion and lemon off of a plate.

" Is that good?" she finally asked.

" No. .. but I can't stop eating it. Ugh, I can smell the garden gnomes."

" Surely you can't _smell_ the garden gnomes!" Ginny laughed. " What do they smell like?"

" Dirt."

" Dirt. Speaking of dirt, why was Remus covered in mud?"

" I don't know. He came home like that. I'm worried about him."

" Because of the mud?"

" No. . .because he hasn't slept, and he hasn't eaten, and he only barely remembered the wolfsbane potion. I am afraid that he is going to collapse somewhere while on a mission and get himself killed."

" _Hermione_! Don't even _say_ such things!"

They sat in silence a moment, each knowing they should say those little words to comfort each other.. .but somehow, they didn't really need them. Ginny didn't want to hear words of comfort, the possibility of breaking down was ingering too close.

She had made love, the man had vanished not five minutes afterwards, and didn't return, ( which was very hard on a woman's vanity) and this morning she had discovered a visit from the least welcome sight of all. . .the curse. Hormones were against her today, and she was sure that one sentimental phrase would send her bubbling over the edge in an uncharacteristic weeping tantrum.

So they sat, and Hermine ate onions, and sucked the lemons, and Ginny tried to remember what time the clock had said when she had returned home the night before.

" I know it said something!" she blurted aloud.

" Hearing things?" Hermione asked.

" I am trying to recall what time it was when I got home. They said that the murder was at four o'clock, and I know that we were. . .together then. "

Hermione's interest perked up.

" If you could prove you were together until five o'clock it would prove him innocent."

" How can I prove something like that? There was only the two of us on the picnic. No one else was there."

" A _picnic_? " Hermione asked in disbelief.

Ginny ignored her, and proceeded to relate all of the minor details, such as when they had left her house.

" I just don't have proof of any of it."

Hermione was an amazing creature, Ginny thought. She could practically hear the other woman's brain humming like a great piece of machinery as it geared into action. Ginny awaited eagerly the result, and almost half expected her to produce a paper receipt like some of the more interesting Muggle machines. She didn't have long to wait.

" I know!" Hermione exclaimed triumphantly. " We can test the wand to prove that a killing curse was not used. What was the last spell you remember seeing him use?" Hermione's eyes were glittering with excitement.

Ginny went back into her memories. . .and fished out the answer.

" A Portkey spell! That was the last thing he did!" she pictured the scene in her mind, him in his rumpled clothes, changing the basket.

But wait. . .there had been something after that. He had looked down at his wand, and seen that he had hers. When he had stood, and she had followed suit, they had hastily traded wands before she had kissed him goodbye and asked him to come back alive.

" No. . .he used my wand to do the Portkey spell. . .I had his wand."

" Well, what was the last spell that was used with it?"

Ginny blushed deep crimson.

" Well?'' Hermione demanded impatiently.

" I used it to undress him."


	16. Interlude Between two women

GINNY: " Don't just sit there and wiggle your lips like that! You look like you are holding a frog in your mouth!"

HERMIONE: " Sorry, I was just. . . surprised."

GINNY: " It's not like you didn't know. . ."

HERMIONE: " I thought you were trying to prove to him that he didn't want you! Is this some new radical form of Weasley therapy for disillusioning love-sick suitors? I was a little surprised to hear that undressing him. . . is one of your methods."

GINNY: " I wasn't trying to run him off, I just wanted to see if he was sincere."

HERMIONE: " So he is sincere?"

GINNY: '' I am not sure."

HERMIONE : " You are not sure?"

GINNY: " It really isn't amusing!"

HERMIONE: " It is going to be a really ugly scandal if and when the word gets out at his trial. . .I only he hope he is worth it to you. "

GINNY: " I think he is worth the chance. . .to at least prove himself wrong."

HERMIONE: " Well, there must being something special, I have never heard of you giving one a chance at anything before. do you want me to tell you an amusing story?"

GINNY:'' No. . .I want to sit here and sulk. ''

HERMIONE: " Still mad because they wouldn't let you help?"

GINNY: " Yes. They even took my wand so I wouldn't escape. ''

HERMIONE:( sarcastically) " How could they ever think that you would try to defy them?"

GINNY: '' They probably took it to consideration the company I keep. Do you think they would use a Penseive if Severus went to trial? "

HERMIONE: '' They could, but it would be confusing. . .however if they do, you might want to consider America.''

GINNY: '' What? ''

HERMIONE: '' Well, no one would know either of you in America. . .it's a nice far-away, and scandal free place to live.''

GINNY: '' Oh, it isn't that bad! ''

HERMIONE: '' No, I don't think it is either. I am just teasing you. I think that Severus is alive and innocent, and that Dumbeldore and the minister will handle the whole thing discreetly. Mr. Cheerful will be back to you, and back to his old charming self again, with all of his memories still pristine and untouched."

GINNY: " Provided the Deatheaters didn't knock them out of him."

HERMIONE: " If they did, then you have a fresh canvas, ready to be re-mastered a la Weasely. Do you want to hear something funny?"

GINNY: '' Tell me something funny.''

HERMIONE: " Remus told it to me. You do know that they went to London together, the same day that we went shopping?"

GINNY: " Severus hinted as much, when he explained the lizard."

HERMIONE: " Well, he didn't tell me exactly why, but the two of them got into a row in the middle of the street, which is nothing new to either of them."

GINNY: " True."

HERMIONE: " You know how threatening Severus can sound when he is thoroughly disgusted with something, or someone, and apparently he was nose to nose with Remus, when two elderly ladies happened to pass by them. One of the ladies was startled by the public spectacle, but the other lady calmly pointed back at the two men, and said, by way of explanation that they were having a lovers spat! "

GINNY: ( overcome with laughter) The two of them? Not a single solitary chance! Oh. . .poor Severus! And poor Remus. . .how embarrassing!"

HERMIONE:'' Remus loved it. He said that Severus got very angry, and yelled down the street after them that it was 'NOT A LOVER'S SPAT! ' I wish I could have been witness to that."

GINNY: '' That would have been a photograph worth paying for. One for the memory book! "

HERMIONE: '' See you feel better now, right? ''

" GINNY: Hermione?

HERMIONE: " Yes?"

GINNY: '' What day is this?"

HERMIONE: " Monday.Why? "

GINNY: '' Well, it's not that I am not enjoying your company, but a question has suddenly occurred to me. . .why aren't you at the Ministry?"

HERMIONE:'' My boss told me to take a day or two off."

GINNY: '' Right now? Why?"

HERMIONE: " A small matter of office etiquette. Apparently I broke some sort of unspoken taboo."

GINNY: " What on earth did you do? "

HERMIONE: " I was ill Friday morning. "

GINNY: '' What was so shocking about that?"

HERMIONE: " I think it may have been because I was ill all over the Minister of Magic's shoes. But then. . .I could be wrong...''

GINNY: " Oh, Hermione! "

HERMIONE: " I was told to take a week off, and see if I ' felt better'. If not, a permanent severance was suggested, until after the baby is born."

GINNY: " What did Remus say?"

HERMIONE: " He called the minister an officious prick, and my boss a bloody bastard, and then told me I didn't have to work another day if I didn't want to."

GINNY: " Too bad you couldn't bottle a little of Remus' good personality and generous nature. I am certain that every woman could use a good shake or two. "

HERMIONE: '' I think his nature is what got him sent on this mission. Dumbledore thinks that Snape will listen to him, He would have no choice. Once Remus get's his mind on something. . . wow! ''

GINNY: '' I get the point. So, I wonder if those two will ever get along any better?"

HERMIONE: " Severus and Remus? Oh, certainly. I think they are already getting along a lot better. "

GINNY: " Who knows? Maybe Severus will even be glad to see Remus show up this time. . . "


	17. Exchange between two men

Snape lowered his wand and rolled his eyes at the tall lanky figure silhouetted in the open doorway.

" Lupin. . ." he acknowledged, with a slight hint of sarcasm. " How did you find me?"

Lupin, who had been standing over the other man, lowered his wand too, and stepped fully inside the structure.

" Call it an educated assumption." he answered, kneeling down so that he was no longer a shadow, but a flesh and blood person.

" Only a fool would assume." Snape deadpanned.

" Well, you have accused me of that title often enough over the years." Lupin agreed softy. He wanted to proceed as cautiously as possible.

" Be that as it may, this is may, you are, for the moment a fool that I am thankful to see." Snape muttered.

" Well! And to what do I owe this strange and intriguing change of character?''

Snape's lips automatically curled downward in wry disdain.

" I am wounded." he stated calmly.

" Where at?"

" No place I am about to let you see, so don't get the wrong ideas." Snape had meant for that to come a little more bitingly, but it only sounded weary. He could see that the other man was just as weary, not to mention wary, and was in need of a bath, a shave, a meal, and a good rest, judging by his looks.

However the possibility that Snape was wounded in an unmentionable part of his personal geography caused Remus' eyes to twinkle in imitation of Dumbledore's.

" Oh, let's have a look, old man, I won't tell a _soul_!" he said with mock sincerity.

" No!" Snape responded sullenly.

" Then, why are you in need of my assistance?" Lupin sat back on his heels and regarded his ex-foe.

" I never sad I required your assistance. I said I was thankful to see you."

Lupin remained silent, waiting for Snape to finish. When Snape couldn't back the other man down with his glare, he finally sighed in surrender.

" Fine. I do need you your help, but I swear to any and all the gods and ancestors that if a word. . .if even a_ hint _of a word, gets out about this, I will personally emasculate you and then stuff the severed parts down your traitorous throat..." Severus winced as he shifted slightly.

Remus' lips twitched in a way that said he was not impressed with Severus' threat.

" So. . .what you are subconciously trying to admit is that you are in a quite a bit of pain, and somewhat embarrassed?"

" Lupin. . ." Severus warned.

" All right, well. . .let's see then. " he raised his eyebrows, but Snape didn't budge. " I swear that no matter what I see. . .or don't see, I won't tell a soul. "

" I don't care about souls! I don't want you telling any people. no house elves, no paintings, no centaurs, not even the Whomping Willow!"

" I swear that I will never mention it to anyone, or anything, living, dead or undead. I won't even tell you. There, now will you let me look at it before you succumb to blood poisoning?'' Remus demanded, now solemn.

At last, Severus began to move, but his look was twisted in a look of agony, and Lupin could only imagine how humiliating this must be for Snape. He himself, who had spent many years waking up naked in various locales, sometimes blood covered and bewildered, had long ago learned that modesty was a self inflicted torment. He had adjusted to his situation, and now Snape would have to adjust to his own.

But, he promised himself that he would not grin. He would not snicker. He would not even let his eyes suggest dram of humor at the situation. He owed it to Snape, after the glorious gift of the better Wolfsbane potion, to not humiliate him further. Besides, if he Snape thought for a moment that Remus was enjoying it too much, he might depart, and die somewhere of infection, then Remus would have to face Ginny.

He wasn't prepared for what Snape was doing though. He had assumed that someone had given Old Severus a good blast in the arse with a snapping spell, but Severus was not baring his arse. With a cough of embarrassment, Remus tried to turn his head, so that he could pretend to be very interested in the sawdust covered floor.

Oh yes, look, there was a little spider, he could take a long time pretending to examine that.

" Are you going to help me, or are you just going to stare at the floor like an imbecile? " Snape snarled.

He sounded like a wounded dog, and Remus tuned back to him quickly only to nearly gag at the sight of the wound. He had seen some nasties in his life, and had inflicted several of them, mostly on himself, but this one was evil looking. It began where the thigh met the hip, and became a nice deep gash, traveling around the leg, and under

the. . .well. . .the place where a man least wanted to be wounded.

It had bled profusely, and was still seeping from one end, which seemed to be a deep puncture. . .almost as if he had been stabbed with a wand.

Some type of slow moving venom must have been used, because streaks of red and green were beginning to trickle away from the wound, discoloring the skin. A faint sweet odor rose from the puncture, and shook his head.

" This is bad. "

" Is it? I hadn't looked yet." Snape's voice sounded rather weak, and when Lupin touched Snape's hand he felt a bit of fever.

" It's bad. You should have returned sooner. .. this needed a healer's immediate attention.

" Shut up. I just need you to cast a quick holding charm on it. . .anti-bleeding, anti-pain, something. And the one on my back."

" Lean forward." Lupin ordered, and for once, Severus obeyed without any complaint.

Since he was safely behind Snape, he allowed himself to grin. He regretted it though, as it was extremely difficult to get the smile back under control once it had broken loose. These wounds, must have been aimed for the same quarter as the first, but Snape had turned at the last moment. A series of shallow hatch-marks crisscrossed his entire lower back, and the tops of his buttocks. There was no doubt that it was a curse. . .at the moment, however after they started to heal they were going to seem, incriminatingly, like a woman in ecstasy had shredded his flesh.

Remus ran a light finger over them, and was rewarded with a sharp intake of breath from Snape, followed by some low cursing.

" You are never going to believe what these scars are in the shape of. . ." said Lupin.

" What?" Snape demanded between his teeth.

" They are in the exact shape of a long quarrel over who you might know that has such loooong fingernails."

" Oh, no!" Snape groaned.

" Oh yes. But don't fret, you also have several cuts, gouges and bruises that make it seem as though you have already been in a quarrel, with about five or six fully armed gentlemen."

" Seven, and they were not gentlemen." Snape muttered.

Remus noticed that the ground was damp with sticky, drying blood, and imagined that the now torn Deatheater robes would be be soaked red, if it weren't for the black coloring.

" Why didn't you cast a bleeding charm?" he asked.

" I am a little woozy, thank you very much. If you had been of the receiving end of seven sets of Cruciatus, you wouldn't trust yourself to point a wand at your crotch."

" Point taken."

" And I don't want you to point your wand in that general vicinity in that direction either, so get that thought out of your feeble little mind. "

" I have something better than a wand with me." Remus gave Snape a slight smile, and rummaged in the pockets of his shabby clothes. He took out a container. . .made out a strange material. Snape eyed it suspiciously until he realized he was looking at ' plastic ', a Muggle chemical compound that was cheap, ugly and impractical. But of course. . .Lupin couldn't carry a silver flask, so the thermos must be a necessity.

" Campbells?'' Snape demanded, reading the red and white label on the container.

" It was a gift from one of Hermione's American cousins. " Remus explained. " ' Campbell's ' is a brand of

something. ''

" What is in the container?" Snape rolled his eyes impatiently.

" Whiskey. Drink some."

Snape obliged, welcoming the fiery liquid as it burned his throat and bloomed in his belly like a great red rose. He gulped down two more huge swallows, before Lupin could snatch the thermos away.

" Easy, I need the rest of it."

" How's Ginny?" Snape asked. As the whiskey helped cut through the haze caused by the hexes to his head.

" Worried to the point of distraction." Remus answered, looking about on the floor for something.

" I worried that she might have mmmph. . .. " Snape's words were cut off as Remus suddenly crammed a stick of wood in his mouth.

He glowered at him in shock, about to demand angrily what he thought he was doing. Remus took a breath of sip of the whiskey for courage, and before Snape could notice what he was doing he tipped the thermos and poured a measure of the fluid into the thigh wound.

He knew it was an extremely foolish thing to do, and he rapidly put a meter or two of space between himself and Snape as soo as he finished pouring.

It took a full second for the pain to trigger a response from Severus, who bit down hard on the dirty stick of wood, and gave a garbled cry that sounded a whole lot like;

'' Fucking hell, I'll kill you."

Snapes eyes watered and his vision danced as the pain shot from his leg right to his teeth. If he ever moved again, he was going to kill Lupin. No more threats. He was going to rip him his limbs off and pour whiskey on the bloody stumps.

Lupin, wisely sensed this tendency in his patient,and stood as far back as he could, waiting until the effect seemed to be wearing off somewhat. When Snape slumped forward, gasping for breath, Lupin darted behind him, and apologizing, he poured another cupful down Snape's back.

" I hate to have to do it, but believe me, it's the best thing in the world." he knew that sounded lame.

The whiskey met with the raw places on Severu's back, and though it stung, it was not as unbearable as the thigh wound. He could actually retain rational thought as he heard ripping sounds coming from somewhere to his left, where Lupin was standing safely out of reach, tearing strips of cloth off of his robes. He ran a basic cleaning spell over them, and made to walk toward Snape.

" Just what do you think you are doing?" Snape raised his wand from the ground.

" Bandages. . ." he held them up as if they were flags of truce.

" You are not bandaging me there.Hand them here." Snape held out a hand, and Lupin, not thinking of any trickery, walked close enough to loop them over Snape's outstretched palm.

When he got within range, Snape kicked out a foot and caught Lupin in the shins, sending the unsuspecting man toppling over backwards.

" What the hell was that for?" Remus demanded angrily.

" For not warning me!" Snape spat, not quite as venomously as he would have intended. The sight of Lupin's arms flailing helplessly before he fell flat on his bottom was doing as much as the whiskey to lighten his mood.

" Healer's say ' It's better if it's done fast like flying and sex'. "

" Like you would know.'' Snape muttered.

" Do you want me to bandage that?"

" No thank you, I'll handle it myself. Thank you."

" Well, at least Ginny can't blame me if you turn up impotent."

" Why don't you amuse yourself over there while I do this?" Snape cocked a brow at Remus. " I don't need a witness."

Lupin pinkened a little, not having meant to seem like he was staring.

" Whatever you say."

He walked about, examining the structure they were in, feeling of the rough timbers that held up the framework of Ginny's house. He had come here last night, but Snape hadn't been here; the rain had been torrential, and the men who had been building the house had had to quit, temporarily. It stood sad and unfinished now, waiting for the sun to dry out the ground around it.

He knew better than to ask Snape why he had been so viciously wounded, but he had to ask one thing.

" Have you heard what has happened?'

" Happened?" Snape was furiously tying the bandages around the wound.

" The Deatheater's? Killing Demetrius Gold?"

Snape paused and frowned at Lupin.

" What are you talking about?" he demanded.

Lupin gave him a brief account of the recent scandal, bluntly admitting that Snape was under suspicion of murder. The dark-haired man on the ground grimaced and covered his face. His head was swimming now in the glory of the alcohol he had overindulged in, and he was trying to recall if he had ever met Gold. Probably not. Gold was a Ministry spy, and the two didn't usually interact.

He most certainly hadn't turned him over to the Deatheater's but he had a sneaking suspicion, that judging by the horrific reception he had experienced at the dark revel yesterday. . .Demetrius Gold might have squealed on him. Probabaly weakened under torture and blurted out the first name he had thought of. Snape recalled that when he had been awarded the Order of Merlin for the creation of the better Wolfsbane potion, someone had overheard Gold mentioning that it was unfair. Was there a jealously there that he had been unaware of?

He would never know now. He couldn't think of that. . .he had to think of how to prove his innocence. And to protect Ginny! What if one of those filthy bastards learned about her? They could use her to get information from him, and he wasn't too sure he would be any stronger than Gold.

" Is Ginny safe?" He demanded suddenly, startling Remus.

" Yes. . .she is back at the Burrow. Someone from the Order has been there constantly. "

" She believes these lies?" he asked bitterly, imagining her recoiling in horror as he neared her.

" Hardly. Not Ginny, she is more upset that Dumbledore sequestered her in the house and wouldn't let her come find you herself."

" She wanted to?"

" He had to use a Restricting spell to stop her."

" What should I do now?"

" You should Apparate straight to Grimmauld Place. It is still the safest place. Then trust yourself to Dumbledore."

" I tried to Apparate last night. I Apparated to Canada, first, to throw them off, then I had to return here. I couldn't go to the Manor, I imagine they have already invaded it?"

" Nothing that can't be repaired. . ." Lupin reassured.

" Last night I tried to Apparate to Grimmauld, but I couldn't focus well enough. " he shook his head, and brushed away some invisible cobweb strands with his hands. " And thanks to that wicked brew, I don't think I'll be going anywhere now."

" Why didn't you make a Portkey?"

" Because, dummy. . .Voldemorte would be able to sense my magic. "

" Really? Well, how about I make a Portkey?"

" Portkey, Apparate, don't care." Snape's voice was slurring now.

'' I am not Apparating into a public place with you wrapped in my arms.' Lupin laughed. " Besides you need to redress yourself before we go anywhere."

He began searching for something to use as a suitable Portkey, while Snape fumbled with his trousers and robes.

There was nothing else of a suitable size so he cast the charm on the stick he had used to bit Snape's mouth earlier.

" Are you ready?" he asked, taking a handful of the other man's clothing into his fist.

" Yes. . .just try not to be jack-ass and land in a bog." Snape said in a rather light tone.

Well, thought Remus, he is certainly a lot more likeable when he is sloshed. He cast a Scourgify charm over the ground, to clean up the blood, (no sense startling the work crew) and with a satisfied nod, he seized the Portkey, and closed his eyes as he was pulled through with a lurch, lugging the Potion's Master along.


	18. Richly Deserved

**Warning!- From here on there is the dangerous possibility of spoilers for the Half Blood Prince. If you haven't read the book, or heard the rumors, then it is best to be very careful about reading the reviews or the answers to reviews that I leave at the top of the pages. However, the story itself contains none, as it is AU. Enjoy at your own risk. **

Note to the readers-I too was shocked and a little dismayed by the rather harsh treatment of Snape's character in the new HP book. ( I guess she has every right, but wow, it was just so weird!) However, I have decided, upon request, and advice from a few friends, to continue this story as I intended it from the beginning. No character changes! And in the future, if I write more HP stories, and I am sure that I will, (after all, now is a great time to post some old stories I wrote. . .that now have a canon ship!) they will probably all be AU. I hope that everyone else who was writing WIP's will continue them unchanged as well!

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Dumbledore sent George and Fred to tell Ginny that Severus had been found. She imagined that it was a subtle way of getting them out of the house. She had wanted to Apparate to Grimmauld before they had even finished, and she was more than little upset to find that the restraining charm was still on the house. She was even more irritated that George laughed at her impatience.

Fred had tried to cheer her with a new trick, turning Hermione's hair purple using wandless magic. It had been funny, and Ginny hadn't realized just how worried she had been, until she had laughed, and the great weight of apprehension had lifted somewhat from her chest. At least he was alive.

George said that he had, according to Professor Dumbledore, been ' knocked around a bit ' and a Medi-wizard was checking him over to make certain nothing was terribly wrong with his head.

" Not that anything was ever terribly right with his head." George added.

" George Weasley! " Molly warned.

Fred turned her hair purple too, and they all sat and snickered, waiting for her to notice.

After what seemed to Ginny like several hours, a very tired looking Remus Lupin Apparated into the room, and was swamped with questions.

" Is he all right?" Ginny asked.

" Did they find a heart beat?" asked Fred.

" Can I go now?" Ginny demanded.

" How did you rip your robes?" asked Hermione.

" Are we going to call a meeting?" asked Fred?.

" Can I talk to him, please?" Ginny tugged at his sleeve.

" Is that blood on your sleeve?" Hermione pushed through the others." Are you hurt?'

" No, I . . ." he tried to answer.

" Is that Severus' blood?" Ginny demanded.

" Hush, all of you, and let the man speak. Move back." Molly ordered.

" Good grief, Molly. . .what on earth has happened to your hair?" Remus exclaimed.

" Well. . .we'll be going now, " Fred and George Disapparated swiftly from the room.

With them gone, Remus could draw a breath, and complete his message. It was not an enjoyable task. He did not want to say what he had to say to Ginny, and he wished that anyone else in the world had been chosen to bear the bad tidings.

" Ginny. . .maybe you should sit down. " he said, and winced at the blunt sound of the words.

Ginny's eyes widened, but she obeyed, for once, without arguing, and when she gave him an expectant look, he could only sigh, run his hands through his already disheveled hair, and speak.

" Severus is fine. Or at least he will be. Apparently someone. . .somehow, managed to poison him, and it has taken a long time to discover the type of poison. However an antidote has been given. . ."

" Can I go see him?" Ginny interrupted.

" No." Remus answered rather wearily.

" Why not?" her eyes blazed for a moment.

He looked rather queer for a second, contemplating the best way to deliver the next round of words.

" He. . .well, he was given a very heavy dosage of pain killing potions, and the antidote.Before that he had drunk quite a bit of whiskey. So I am almost positive that he was not himself when he spoke."

" What did he say? Come on, just tell me straight out." she raised a brow at him. He shot Hermione a pained look over Ginny's shoulder, and she winced, instinctively seeming to know what was coming next.

" He said. . .that he didn't want you or anyone else to get within fifty yards of him.'' he finished helplessly.

There was moment of uncomfortable silence, even Mrs. Weasley didn't dare make a noise, and Remus looked desperately to Hermione as if she could somehow extricate him from his predicament.

'' He said WHAT!" Ginny demanded suddenly, jumping to her feet. Instinctively, three people stepped backwards, forgetting momentarily that she was wandless.

" Ginny. . .I am sure. . ." began Hermione.

" What exactly did he say?" Ginny demanded.

" Er. . ." Remus gave a little shrug. " I asked him if he wanted me to come fetch you. . .and he said. . .that he didn't want to see you. . ."

They all shifted uncomfortably, but behind Ginny, Hermione's lips gave a little twitch, as if she though this was most amusing.

Well she might. . .after all, no one had ever dared to spurn Ginny before!

Ginny's face turned a shade of red that made her flaming hair pale dreadfully in comparison, but for a moment she looked stunned.

" Fine." she said at last. " Fine with me. "

" Like I said, he was under the influence of alcohol, and very strong potions. . ." Remus said hastily. He didn't like to see people suffer. . .and it looked as if Severus might be the one who was in for some suffering if Ginny got hold of him.

Ginny raised her hand and shook her head.

" It doesn't matter to me, one way or the other, if he wants to continue to prove to the world that it is possible to become an even bigger prat." she stuck her little nose up into the air. " I'm going home."

But, Dumbledore had not yet removed the charms and Ginny could neither Floo, nor Disapparate from her mother's kitchen. Giving an exasperated sigh and a kick to the table leg as she passed by it, she stormed out of the room, and up the stairs.

Hermione covered her mouth with her hand. She had done that earlier when she had witnessed three Weasley brothers hold Ginny's arms while Molly disarmed her. Ron had earned a black eye for his trouble and grumbled for an hour about how they should have just petrified her and stuck her in the corner for safekeeping.

Remus looked a little sheepish.

" Then I suppose she is really going to be upset with the next piece of news." he sighed, looking rather defeated.

" What's that?" somehow, Fred and George had managed to return to the room without having been noticed, and were standing a safe distance from their mother.

" Dumbledore said that someone should take her there anyway." said Lupin. His face clearly indicated that he was not volunteering for the mission.

" Right! We are just the wizards for the job!" said Fred.

" Absolutely! " said George with a enthusiasm that made Molly squint her eyes suspiciously.

" I don't want you two causing any trouble. . ." she began.

" No, now Molly, I think it will be fine if they escort her. Perhaps they have just the lack of gravity to offset the situation." Lupin interjected hastily. " Besides. . .Severus is already a little more accustomed to them."

He grimaced as he recalled the exact outcome of the relationship developed by the twins and Snape. But then, he couldn't complain too hard about their little prank, not when their fantastic new Wolfsbane potion had rendered the Lycanthropy nearly helpless.

Molly shrugged her shoulders, and gave both young men a piercing look.

They each gave her their most winning and innocent smile in return.

" Well, better be going along. I imagine Ginny is expected. . ." said Lupin. " You will have to Floo with her. . .if you can get her to come downstairs."

Fred and George gave each other a wink, and then a thumbs up to Lupin, before they Disapparated from the downstairs room. Everyone held their breath, listening.

They heard George's voice first, imploring her to come with them.

Ginny refused in a gruff fashion, only to be warned that she was coming with them, even if they had to drag her from the room.

Ginny raised her voice to shout at them then, and there the sound of a massive amount of scuffling, as if they really did have hold of her arms and were trying to pull her along.

" I WILL NOT GO! Get out of here. . .Fred what are you DOING?'' she shrieked.

They heard a muffled spell being uttered pompously by Fred. . .or maybe George, and a thump as someone fell to the floor. Everyone below gave a little wince.

A minute later, George came downstairs, followed by Ginny, whose petrified body was being levitated between him and Fred. The twins each wore identical looks of triumph.

" She was very enthusiastic about cooperating." Fred said cheerfully.

" She put up a bit of a fight for the show of it, but I could tell right away that really wanted to go with us." confided George.

" Well,... she has every right to be upset. " said Hermione, after the twins had managed to stuff Ginny into the fireplace and vanish with her.

" Yes. And I am very thankful that I don't have to be there when they release her." said Lupin with a look of relief. " Voldemort himself would be less impressive."

" Do you think it's all right for her to see him if he is so ill? With her being so angry?" asked Molly in a worried tone.

" I think. . .that he richly deserves her. " said Lupin in all honesty. " And every ounce of her temper."


	19. Ginny Ginny!

**Warning!- From here on there is the dangerous possibility of spoilers for the Half Blood Prince. If you haven't read the book, or heard the rumors, then it is best to be very careful about reading the reviews or the answers to reviews that I leave at the top of the pages. However, the story itself contains none, as it is AU. Enjoy at your own risk. **

**billiejoe **: I know what you mean, I had never even read a Ginny fiction before I wrote this one. That makes it pretty cool, because I can't say I was influenced by any other ideas about what her adult personality would be when I started. Glad you approve of the pairing. . .I know there have been a few people who have been kind of skeptical!

**SeverusSnape'sLove-**grin I am not a temperamental person myself, so I can only hope I do her temper justice!And still make her come across as an adult.

**LuSa-**I hope too many people haven't spoiled the ending of the new book for you! Don't worry though, I am going to finish the story, unless my fingers get broken. Then I might type with my tongue. It would take longer. . .but you guys are worth it:)

**s.m.rahl-**Oh come on. . .we wouldn't like him if he wasn't a prat! He just does it _so_ well!

**A/N- **Actually, I feel pretty mischievous today, and I must say that I think I actually like Snape better these days, evil grin!

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There was a massive pounding behind his eyes. One of those annoying headaches that wouldn't disappear, no matter_ what _you drank, or _who_ you killed.

As it dragged him from what had been a dreamless and deep slumber, he thought groggily to himself that he must have really over indulged at some point during the day, because the only time he ever slept deeply was when he was intoxicated.

As he wallowed in the shallower sleep that is the prelude to the absolute moment of waking, he tried to recall just what he had been drinking, and why. All he had was rather blurry images though; Death Eaters. . .red hair. . .Death Eaters. . .some sort of red and white container. . .red hair. . .

He became aware of another noise, one that he could hear even over his throbbing head. It was the harsh sandpapery sound of whispering. . .

He reached beside him in the bed, trying to reach his wand. Whoever or whatever was making that atrocious and nerve-wracking noise was about to get _blasted_ from the room. But his hand met with empty covers, and at his movement the whispering halted for a moment.

Then someone spoke in a low voice.

'' I think he is waking up."

" Do you _really_ think?" asked a sarcastic female voice.

" You don't have to be so rude. . .I was only telling you." grumbled the other voice.

" No surprise, with you making all of that _racket_." he felt a little warmth spread through him, as he recognized Ginny's voice.

He was now fully awake, as the memory of their last meeting came flooding back into his mind. Followed shortly by the memory of his summons to Voldemort's side, and the special privilege of being tortured by his colleagues for awhile as they gloried in their recent bloodlust.

The whole filthy occasion came creeping back into this mind, from the moment he had been asked just why he had not been able to inform them that here was a spy in their midst, to the point where Lupin found him bleeding on the ground.( At least he knew who to blame for the hangover!)

He had honestly thought that by the spy, the other Death Eaters had been referring to himself, and he had been surprised when they had only tormented him a little, instead of killing him.

He wanted to tell all of this to Ginny, that he was innocent, and had not known about Gold. . .but there was something else nagging at him. It had to do with saying something to Lupin, about Ginny, but he couldn't quite remember what it was, even though he felt that it was direly important.

" I_ know_ you are awake." she said, and he detected an odd flat note to her voice.

With a great effort he opened his eyes, trying not to wince as the light seared his brain. As his eyes came into focus, he could see Ginny, standing beside the bed with her arms folded across her chest in a stubborn fashion. Behind her. . .near to the door, stood Ron. . .and behind him, Harry Potter, The-Twit-Who-Lived.

Ginny suddenly turned to face them.

" Go away." she ordered imperiously, and the two of them slunk from the room like kicked dogs.

" They were just concerned for you. . ." said another male voice, and Snape could just detect another Weasley form by the window.

" Using my distress and preoccupation as a good excuse for borrowing my new broomstick isn't _concern_, Charlie." she said, her voice a little more patient as she addressed this older, and apparently more respected brother.

'' I think I'll step outside, and see whether or not Fred or George are up up to any mischief. " Charlie said, patting her shoulder as he walked by. " Confiscate any Extendable ears, or such. You know where I am if you need me." he shot a rather harsh look in Severus' direction, before closing the door.

Snape was trying to work out what _that_ was supposed to have meant, and Ginny mistook the pause for hesitation.

" You can just come right out and_ tell_ me to leave, if it would make things go more quickly." she said.

" _Why_ would I tell you to leave?" he frowned.

" Well, you sent word for me to not come at all, and I _assumed_ that you would be rather disapproving of

my. . ._disobedience." _her voice seemed rather loud.

_Oh yes._ He remembered now; and the elation he had felt at hearing her voice departed from him instantly.

" Never give an_ idiot_ directions when you are drunk." he grumbled.

" I don't think insults are in order. " she snapped. " _No,_ I think I am wrong. Let me rephrase that to; Insults do not apply to people _outside_ of _this_ room."

" So you think insults are needed _within_ this room?" he snapped back, a little more forcefully than he had intended.

"A few _really_ good ones spring to mind." she answered, narrowing her eyes.

" Well? Go ahead then. It isn't like I haven't heard them all before." he replied, sullenly.

" Noooo.._.I_ have a better idea." said Ginny. His mouth opened to question her, but never managed to wrap itself around a word.

She was walking toward the bed, in a slow hypnotic manner, her hips swaying slightly. It was all _too_ easy to recall how she had looked, naked. With a smooth ease, she sat on the bed, leaning halfway over him, her hair brushing against his face.

" I want you to tell me_ exactly_ why you didn't want to see me again. After so much _determination_ on your behalf, are you going to tell me that sleeping with me disenchanted you?" she asked in a light tone, that belied the cold fires in her blue eyes.

" It is nothing so mundane." he stated.

" Really?"

He had to swallow twice before he could speak again. Having her in such close proximity was making his mouth water uncontrollably, and his heart beat just a little too quickly.

" Perhaps you have been so grief stricken at my absence, that you did not hear about the death of the spy Gold? " his voice was bitterly sarcastic now.

She only glowered at him.

" Well, the Dark Lord, and a few of his most_ loyal_ followers decided that I should have alerted them to his presence. They suggested that _perhaps_ I might have done so, had I not been seemingly preoccupied with _something else_. "

He paused and waited, expecting her to make a remark at this point. However she just sat, still incredibly close to him, and waited for him to get around to his inevitable point. He looked as though he were having a very difficult time in getting to that point. . .which was true.

If she could have read his mind, she would have seen '' Good Snape '', who wanted to be noble, battling with '' Bad Snape '', who didn't care about consequences. However, " Bad Snape '' seemed to think that if '' Good Snape '' were going to be depressingly noble and forfeit all of the chances for a future of good shagging, then there was no reason to be polite about it.

" So I believe that you should go away."

None of Ginny's friends or family would have believed that she sat there, so stoically, letting his words sink completely in. There was nothing but a cool calmness in her voice when she spoke at last. She was the very definition of calm, in fact; the coldness in her voice so sharp that it could have sliced through skin.

" Go away. Shall I go away from this room, this country, or this _world_?" she asked at last, and he detected a note of his own trademark venom in that question.

" I meant go away from_ me._"

" Ah, I see. So. . .that you can continue with life without being preoccupied?"

" Yes. No. . .I mean, I didn't mind being preoccupied, I just believe that it was too dangerous." he admitted.

" For whom?"

" For us. For everyone. I was tortured. If they had known about you, they would have found you and killed you as well. And you couldn't say that it wasn't dangerous for Gold.''

" I am not going to be guilted into believing that a careless man, that I never knew, died because you and

I. . ._distracted _each other." she snorted.

He scowled at her.

" You are_ not_ making this easy!" he snapped childishly.

This time her coolness was broken slightly by the look of faint surprise that crossed across her face.

" Make it _easy_? " she asked with incredulity. " That is the most _preposterous_ thing I have ever heard! No wait, that is the _second _most preposterous thing I have ever heard. It comes in a smooth second place though. "

" What_ is_ the_ most _preposterous thing that you have ever heard?" he suddenly challenged.

" I'll give you a _BIG_ clue'' she said confidentially before leaning over him so close that her lips brushed against his, probably not an accident. " You said it, in this room, within the last few minutes. "

She kissed him so swiftly that it made his head spin and his stomach fall. Just as he was reaching up to give in, and to take it further, she pulled away. Away from his kiss, and away from the bed. She stepped backwards towards the door.

" And with that, I will leave you to figure it out, all by yourself." she gave a little smile.

" GINNY WEASLEY! Do not leave this room!" he shouted indignantly, upset to find that he had been charmed to the bed so that he couldn't accidentally abuse his wounded leg. " _We_ are in the middle of an _argument!"_

" No ' we' aren't." she answered sharply.

" What do you. . ? _What_ then, do you call what has been transpiring? " he managed to shrink his ever increasing frustration back down to where he could mask it behind his old tone of condescension.

She still did not look angry, and for some reason that bothered him. More than anything else had in a long time. She didn't yell, or protest, or even. . .cry. She just contemplated him in a way that made him feel very obtuse.

Then she smiled. The oddest smile of victory, shot with anger, and laced with irritation, before she shook her finger at him in a very Molly Weasley way, like a mother reprimanding a child who won't admit to misbehavior, and said;

" _You_ were arguing. I was simply listening; stunned. Now if you'll excuse me, you need your rest, so I'll just. . ._go away._ " and she opened the door, stepped through and then looked back over her shoulder at him.

" Just so you know, I am very glad to see you alive and well. I _was_ hoping to test my theory on the healing properties of _sensual_ massage. . .but, no worries. I was never cut out to be a healer anyway."

And with that last word, she closed the door softly behind her.

He was tempted to roar her name. . .but he had the strangest feeling that it wouldn't do him any good whatsoever. She had walked out of that door with a look of determination, and nothing short of dragging her screaming and kicking was going to get her back inside.

" I'll show her! I'll _be_ the one dragging her. . .right back into my . ..Oh no I _won't _either. She isn't going to pull any tricks. This is for her own good, and she'll just have to accept that fact!"

He wasn't entirely successful in convincing himself of his own words.

So he simply lay, straining against the magical restraints, and glaring heatedly at the door. He was amazed that it didn't burst into flames under his

eyes. . .at least that would have made him feel better.

Dammit! Why did she have to listen to him?

There were things that he would never know. And one of them was that, after she reached the other side of the door, she had laughed.

Silently, but surely, she had laughed. Not because the situation was funny, because in a way, she was sure that it should be serious. She was laughing because. . .she knew men. And she knew boys. And she knew when grown men were behaving like boys.

And for some reason she instinctively knew that despite his overly immature attitude, Severus Snape was far from finished with her.

What _she_ didn't understand though, was how come, after these past weeks of skepticism on her part, she was so eager to have him back!


	20. Waiting is the hardest part

**Warning!- From here on there is the dangerous possibility of spoilers for the Half Blood Prince. If you haven't read the book, or heard the rumors, then it is best to be very careful about reading the reviews or the answers to reviews that I leave at the top of the pages. However, the story itself contains none, as it is AU. Enjoy at your own risk. **

**billiejoe: **Yep, know what you mean. Seems like J.K. doesn't like Snape at all, which is really weird since she created him! I think she liked him to begin with, but changed after she saw he was drawing so many fans away from Harry. Hey, can we help it if we think Snape is more fun? ;) I dunno about everyone else, but Dumbledore's death didn't shock me near as bad as Severus' betrayal! Ouch!

**To all the readers and reviewers; **Thanks for the support and feedback. I can't believe how well this story is going over! You guys are priceless!

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The matter of Gold's death was not to be investigated any further, until after the healer had declared Snape as ' fit'. Ginny wondered with dark humor if that meant physically, or mentally?

Almost a week passed by, and at during that time, Ginny resided still at the Burrow. She wasn't sure how Snape knew of this, although her suspect did have the initials; _A.D_. However he had come into the knowledge of it, he saw fit to make use of the address once or twice a day, sending notes by owl.

She_ should_ have returned them, unopened. That is what a great heroine would have done. But Ginny was not great, nor a heroine. She wasn't even prone to bouts of dramatics. So she had casually opened every note, and found them all to be very similar. Very formal sounding notes, keeping her informed of the legal proceedings, and occasionally requesting that they ' talk' after the trial.

It wasn't a real trial. Dumbledore had managed to pull a few strings, apparently the Minister of Magic couldn't keep up with all of the strings and loopholes that abounded; and these had managed to get by without his close scrutiny. In this case, Severus was granted a private hearing, since he was basically a spy, and it wouldn't do anyone any good to have the news leaked out to the Death Eaters.

Ginny had read all of the notes, then chucked them into a box, refusing to discuss Severus Snape with anyone. . .even in regard to the upcoming trial. In fact, the tiny amount of control she had managed to hold over her temper while in Snape's presence, seemed to have exhausted her supply of patience. She spent the time between her visit to him, and the day of the trial, either sulking coldly and pretending she hadn't heard anyone speaking, or raging stormily about this or that unimportant matter.

Occasionally she would pass by the kitchen on her way outside, only to hear her mother telling someone that ; " _Ginny was upset. ._ ." or that Ginny ''_ Had never acted so seriously over a man before._" Molly didn't quite realize that she had struck the true nerve there; the culprit responsible for Ginny's new explosion of alternate personality. Ginny hadn't ever been so upset before, and she did not enjoy the lack of control.

Luckily for everyone else though, sulking takes away a lot of a person's energy, and as the week dragged on, the woman who resembled a walking bomb, slowly fizzled back down into just Ginny, who spent a lot of time just sitting about, not eating or talking to anyone, and giving rather short cool answers if anyone tried to speak with her.

One of the reasons she could not bear to speak to anyone was because she had found out, from Severus' notes, that there would definitely be the use of a Pensieve, as well as truth serum used.The wand would also be tested. This had infuriated her, and made her very nervous. She _knew_ what the ministry was going to find, and she had a strange cold fear in her gut that the story would leak out into the public. She knew it was the wrong reason for spurning her friends and family, but she couldn't help it. . .how could she open her mouth to exchange pleasantries about the weather, when her privacy was about to be invaded?

The afternoon of the ' trial' saw Ginny incarcerated at Grimmauld place, where the Order had been having what was _supposed_ to be a meeting, but had become more of a hasty gossip session that ended soon so that the members could vanish happily for a few hours of personal freedom and fun seeking. Her presence at the Ministry had not been required, yet, but she was told to remain where she was, and to be ready, for it wouldn't be unthinkable that she could be summoned at any moment.

Hermione and Remus had stayed with her, after the others had departed, supposedly to keep Ginny company. They were going about it in their traditional way. . .they sat at the opposite end of the table, one on either side, with a copy of the Prophet divided between them.

They hadn't spoken aloud for nearly two hours, since Remus had asked Hermione if she wanted some chocolate. He had opened an entire bar of Honeyduke's chocolate, and with a greedy look, Hermione had leaned across the table and eaten several great mouthfuls. Apparently the baby had it's fathers taste in candy.

That was the last interesting thing they had done. Of course, she knew better than to feel resentful towards them. They had tried to talk to her, but she had been rather short tempered with them, mostly because she was incredibly embarrassed. They could sit there, reading the newspaper, and making eyes at each other occasionally. . .they weren't having the memory of themselves,

'' inflagrante '', extracted from someone's head and displayed like a pornographic hologram to the world.

To try to forget what was being witnessed by the Ministry,Ginny was preoccupying herself with the simply_ fascinating_ task of flicking a sweet pea away from her, using her fingernail. Due to the noticeable tilt of the floor, the pea would faithfully return to her to be flung away again. She was resting her head on her arms, so that she was at eye level with the dried out pea. . .

After about thirty minutes of this _breathtakingly_ fun game, with still not a word from Dumbledore, Ginny turned her head to see whether or not Remus or Hermione had finished with the paper yet.

Apparently they had. . .for at the moment they were in the middle of a heated staring match. She watched, with mild interest, the heavy breathing and the intense hungry expressions. Hermione's tongue came out and wet her lips; and a small look of pleasure swept across Remus' face. One of those surprised looks that suggested that Hermione _might_ be doing something rather naughty beneath the table with her foot.

This continued for a short time, before Hermione stood delicately, still holding Remus gaze in her own for the moment it took her to walk around the table's end. Just briefly, Ginny caught a glimpse of Hermione's hand, signaling for him to follow her into the kitchen.

Ginny hastily looked back to the table, pretending that she had seen nothing. After a few seconds, hardly enough time to dispel any suspicions about his hasty behavior, Remus stood as well, giving a bit of a cough, and stretching a bit. When Ginny casually glanced over at him, he blushed and jerked his thumb toward the door to the kitchen.

'' Just going to see if. . .there is anything interesting in the kitchen." he mumbled, not meeting her gaze.

Oh, she was sure that there _was_.

She gave him a small, unconcerned smile, and reached across to pull Hermione's half of the newspaper toward herself. Remus took this as his cue that she was not suspicious, and he stumbled as he exited a bit too hastily.

Ginny still hadn't been given back her wand, and was very relieved to hear a muffled and girly voice from inside of the kitchen remember to cast a silencing charm on the door.

She shook her head. It might have taken the two of them forever to discover the joys of relationships, but they were doing a brilliant job of catching up on their homework. As for her, she was not certain that she could ever bring herself to have sex again.

She read through the first half of the paper before she looked at the clock, surprised to see that nearly an hour had passed. She frowned at the door to the kitchen. She was getting hungry, and Remus and Hermione had not yet re-emerged, apparently not aware that the upstairs had plenty of _bedrooms_.

She read the second half of the paper. ..even the advertisements. Then she stood and stretched, contemplating as to whether or not she should knock at the kitchen door. Nope, wouldn't do any good. She was positive that Hermione had warded it inside and out, not to mention silenced it.

Ginny began pacing back and forth, fiddling with the occasional trinket or curtain. She did not have any particular interest in curtains or trinkets, but they were much more interesting than the dried up pea.

She was just in the middle of absentmindedly brushing some cobwebs from a candelabra, when someone Apparated into the room. Her hand flew to her throat and she almost squealed, startled as she was.

It was none other than Mad-Eye Moody, who gave her a once over with his magical eye, just to assure himself that she was real. Not that he was ever convinced that anything was real.

" Did I scare you?" he demanded gruffly.

" A bit."

" That's good. Hate to think that I lost my abilities." he began to scan the room, looking up through the ceilings and down through the floors. Ginny felt her own face blush as he gazed a little too close to the kitchen door. Hurriedly, she tried to distract him.

" So..." she said, a little too hastily, " Heard anything yet?"

" Nothing. That places is tighter than a ducks. . .bill. " he stopped himself just in time.

She gave a little laugh, she was too bored and too wound up to be broody at the moment.

" If you say so. "

" Say, you here all alone? I thought that Lupin and Granger, I mean, Lupin and er. . ._Lupin_, he stuttered over the etiquette of married names for a second. . ." were supposed to be here?"

" They are. I mean. . .they are around here _somewhere_. " she blushed even deeper. " Probably out by the bogs. . .would you like. . .a. . .uh. . . I mean to sit down?"

She had almost offered him tea, which would have been impossible to get. Besides he never drank anything that didn't come from his own flask. She knew immediately that her charade hadn't fooled him. You didn't live that long as an Auror, without knowing when someone was coming dangerously close to fibbing.

" So you don't know where they are?" he asked.

" Well. .. I saw them go into the kitchen last." she admitted. Two hours ago, she added to herself. Well, wasn't her fault if they got caught.

Mad-Eye's eye rolled right to the door, and he spent a long time peering through the wood, while Ginny bit her lip and pretended to once again be interested it the cobwebs.

" I see. " he said finally.

She almost said ' see what? ' but decided against it. _He_ might just tell her.

" I wonder if dinner is done yet?" she joked hopefully.

" I don't think that is what's cooking in there. . ." he grunted. Suddenly he rolled his eye back into place and sat down, just as the door to the kitchen burst open and Hermione came rushing out, a huge lolling grin on her pretty face. She was covered is red marks, and her hair and clothing was almost intentional in it's disarray.

She rushed past them both not looking up, and ran up the stairs. A few seconds later, Remus strolled out, looking uncharacteristically smug. He had a lazy smile in place as well, and didn't even flinch when he saw Moody. He looked tipsy, in Ginny's opinion.

'' Oh, _hello_ Moody!" he greeted affectionately.

" Lupin! Didn't _see_ you back there. " Moody winked at Ginny, who bit back a grin of her own. Leave it to be someone like Moody who could lift her spirits at a time like this.

'' Heard any news? " Lupin yawned.

" None to speak of."

Lupin grinned again.

" That's nice. " he said.

" Hmmph. I just came by to leave these. " he took two scrolls out of his pocket. Intercepted letters."

" Oh, " Lupin shook his head slightly to clear away the fog. " I see."

Ginny was about to ask if it was anything too important, when the fireplace lit up with the greenish Floo light, and Dumbledore's head appeared, twinkling, and reassuring.

" Innocent. " he proclaimed, looking straight at Ginny, who was certain that her blush radiated enough heat to warm the entire room.

'' That's good." Moody said, not sounding as if he much cared, one way or the other.

Dumbledore looked back to Ginny, as if expecting some sort of acknowledgement from her. She forced a small smile, and gave him a nod.

" It is a good thing." she managed.

" Miss Weasley. . ." Dumbledore addressed her, and she felt her throat tighten. " Your testimony was not required. However I must ask you to remain here, temporarily, until I can arrange a word with you."

She didn't dare to argue.


	21. ForgetMeNot

**Warning! There may be spoilers in the reviews or replies to reviews so anyone who hasn't read the new HP book should proceed with caution! **

SeverusSnape's Love-Yeah, isn't it deliciously embarrassing though?

Marr Yanis- Hey, no fair drooling.

s.m.rahl-Yeah, but Dumbledore knows best, right?

Queen of the Faeries-Thanks again for your kind words! For you, I'll make sure Sevvy Baby makes another appearance before the end!

Everybody else-Thanks for the reviews! There are days when I wouldn't even bother with computers, but then I think of those reviews, and it makes everything worthwhile!

* * *

Dumbledore did arrange a word with her, but not his own.

Everyone else had gone home. Moody had simply Disapparated after a gruff grunt of farewell, and a customary warning to her on the basic principles of vigilance and safety. He had given the house another sweep over with his magical eye before leaving, just in case a boggart, a Doxie, or a stray Death Eater might have sneaked in while he was preoccupied.

The ' Lovers Lupin ' had offered to stay, if Ginny desired it, and she had been tempted. However she thought it was awkward enough as it were, to have to discuss anything personal with Dumbledore in private. . .let alone her good friends, who knew very little about the nature of the trial and her quarrel with Severus, in attendance. So, she had ushered them to the fireplace, with a promise to Hermione that she would meet her later and fill her in on anything of interest.

Greatly edited, of course. She had thought to herself.

After they had gone though, she missed them instantly. They might not have been much conversation, but their presence had filled up the vacuum that lingered at Grimmauld. The silence began to get very loud, punctuated regularly by the ticking of the clock.

Deciding it would be best not to wait idly, Ginny Accioed a glass of whiskey from the kitchen, and some parchment from the study, and began to scribble away at some notes, keeping a careful eye on the time and the amount of liquor she indulged in. But still, the minutes wore on, and no one came.

He burst into the room quite suddenly, throwing back the heavy french doors so violently that they connected with the walls, and caused the pictures to shake and the chandelier over the dining table to sway; it's crystal pendants tinkling in protest.

Ginny thought she did a very good job of not seeming startled, even though the sudden noise had echoed in the room like cannon fire. She raised her head briefly, then lowered it again, not in the least bit surprised to see that it was him instead of Dumbledore who had appeared.

He looked slightly more pale and a whole lot thinner than when she had last seen him, the day she had visited his sick bed. His hair seemed a bit more greasy, and his traditional black suit was powdered with ashes and soot.

" Do you have any idea what I have just been through?" he demanded.

" The Floo network?'' she suggested, innocently.

He did not appreciate her levity, and fixed her with a stern glower that would have shriveled the hearts of most men. She simply shrugged at his lack of response and returned her eyes to the notes before her.

Suddenly he brought both of his hands flat down onto the table, palms first, creating a great amount of noise, and causing her quill to skip crazily across the writing she had been so neatly producing. He was not in the least bit impressed with her ability to remain so calm after he had just experienced what he considered to be the most humiliating day of his life.

With a sigh, she laid the pen down and calmly folded her hands on the table.

" Should I apologize? I am sure my memory has caused you quite a bit of grief over the last few hours." she asked softly.

He sat down with a huff, twitching his head a bit nervously to dislodge the strand of hair that insisted on falling in his eyes. She resisted the temptation to brush it aside for him, clenching her fingers together to keep them from moving.

" No.'' he grumbled. " I owe you my freedom I guess."

They sat for a moment in awkward silence. A long uncomfortable silence. She wanted to ask him if he still thought she should stay far away from him for her own good, and if so, why was he sitting so close to her?

He wanted to ask if there was the slightest chance that she might have forgotten, magically, the words he had spoken yesterday. Probably not, he decided.

He was caught between his mental refusal to ever say he was wrong; and the determination to not allow her to say she had been right from the beginning. Finally he decided that the best way to come to a point was to detour as far away as possible from the issue at hand.

" Do you realize how late it is?" he asked, trying to keep the sharpness out of his voice.

" Yes. Nearly seven o'clock." she said, not keeping the coolness out of hers.

" I'm hungry." he said, accusingly.

" Then eat something. " she answered simply.

He stared at each other for a few moments, eyes blazing, and mouths set firmly into identical stubborn lines.

" Stop it." he said, finally.

" Stop what?" she did not stop.

" Stop. . .behaving like a five year old child."

" I thought I was just being civil."

" You are being a. . ."

" A...?" she raised a brow.

" Gryffindor." he said grudgingly.

" One of these days I might just kiss a confession out of you as to what you really wanted to call me." she gave a little laugh.

" One of these days? " he asked, his voice changing almost instantly to a silky purr.

" Oh, sure. Haven't you read the predictions? Hell is supposed to be freezing over any time now." Ginny would never know how she managed to deliver that with a straight face. She would also never know how she was able to maintain a straight face after watching Severus give a believable impression of a cod fish.

" You think you have won, don't you?" he demanded, suddenly turning everything around against her.

" Beg your pardon?" she asked.

' This ' he waved his hand as if to include the very world into his accusation.'' Is just some trick to try to prove me wrong."

" What are you talking about?" her expression was one that was reserved usually for people who claim to be purple fairies with keen insight into government conspiracies.

" That's fine." he said graciously. " I accept your little challenge, my dear."

She opened her mouth to argue. If she were anyone else, she might believe that he was _playing_ with her. But he wasn't anyone else, and that was one of his most disturbing qualities, so what was she to think?

" Have you gone insane?" she finally asked.

" Yes." he reached across the table suddenly and seized her hand. " Totally and incurably insane, what do you think of that?"

" I think I am going to confront Dumbledore on this issue."

" Do what you see fit. I refuse to back down. Hell will freeze before I let a Gryffindor triumph over me." he suddenly pressed her palm to his mouth, and her first thought was to be curious and suspicious of this little romantic caress. She couldn't deny however a tiny thrill caused by the hot, dry movement of his lips against her skin.

Ginny was just about to lay her other hand on his head and forgive him, or at least give him another chance, when he pulled away with a smug chortle.

" Ha!" he dropped her hand.

Ginny wasted no time in turning over her palm to see what he was in such a gloat over.

" How? How _dare _you! " she finally demanded, showing her hand needlessly to Severus.

" I cannot believe you did that, you. . .you . .. slimy, snarky Slytherin scum!"

He wondered if she could say that ten times, very fast. However he was too busy smugly admiring his handiwork. He had spent the whole week designing this little charm, and had even tried it out on himself, just to be certain that there was only one charm for it's removal.

''. . .am I supposed to go around all day with a big blue smear on my hand?" she was still exclaiming loudly.

" It isn't a smear. Look closer, it is a Forget-Me-Not." he said quietly.

Ginny's eyes shot back to her palm, where the '' tattoo'' was coming into focus. Sure enough, it was a pretty, stylized Forget-Me-Not, it's delicate periwinkle blossoms so realistic in color, yet so delicately lined and out-lined that they appeared engraved. Around it was a delicate knotwork frame; a perfect oval.

' Why?" she asked again, raising her sapphire eyes to meet his obsidian gaze.

" In case I ever have to go away again. I wouldn't want you to forget me. "

" Oh. . .'' she looked back at the flower.

" Forget-me-nots, have no particular flavor of their own, so I have scented it to smell like roses. If I recall, from one of conversations, you would love to be able to enjoy the fragrance of roses, without having to suffer the consequences. I believe, that this is perfectly safe."

Ginny did not have to bring her hand all of the way to her face, before she was struck with the glorious scent of roses. She waited a few moments, but she did not swell, or itch, so she smiled.

" That is brilliant."

" Of course it is. And they have no fragrance unless you want them too."

" Is it permanent?"

" You might one day be able to kiss from me the counter charm, but for now, yes it is."

" I can't teach school with this! What sort of example would that be?"

" My little naive girl, no one but you and I will be able to see it. " he said. " I even-"

But he didn't get a chance to finish. Ginny had seized the lapels of his robes and pulled him towards her, meeting him halfway across the table. It was what he was beginning to think of as one of her '' rotten little kisses'' , highly enjoyable, but entirely to short-lived, and done only to tease him mercilessly.

" Does that mean you forgive me?" he asked, trying to not to sound too eager.

" No. . ., that means ' thank you for the flower '.'' she said, making to sit back down.

" Well, in that case. . ." he murmured and rose to his feet in a fluid, graceful movement.

He was incredibly fast. . .one second he had been standing on his side of the table, and the next second, he had hold of her arms, and had her pulled all of the way onto the table.

She made a little noise of shocked protest as her knees banged against the table's edge.

" Severmph-" she tried to say, but her words were muffled in his mouth. If her kiss had been light and teasing, his was practically indecent; leaving no part of her mouth un-violated or tasted. It was so intense that when he finally pulled away, sucking roughly on her bottom lip as he did, she could only think of one word to describe the huge tidal wave of emotion that he had just caused.

" Oh," she uttered, hoping he couldn't hear her heart as it pummeled her insides.

" Oh? Is that the best you can do?" he purred against her lips, running his tongue out to prod the now swollen and red flesh.

" Mmmmhmm..." she replied, pressing closer to him. She was just about to enfold him completely in her arms and forget any thing resembling a grudge, when a small portion of her senses sluggishly returned.

" Hey, wait! What was that for?" she glared at him, without moving away from him.

" That was a ' thank you'."

" For what?"

" For providing me with the world's most embarrassing yet incontestable alibi." he said, almost with a smile.

She blushed, and smiled sheepishly.

" Was it horrible?"

" It was. . .disturbing. Seven jaws fell to the table in unison, and I can only hope that it hurt like hell."

" Eek! Seven witnesses!" she groaned, dropping her face to his shoulder. He could feel the heat from her blush through his shirt.

" If it is any consolation to you at all, you were only. . .barely visible. Most of the time."

She covered his mouth with her hand.

" Don't. Don't go into detail, I don't want to know what I looked like, what we looked like, or who was looking at us." she gave a little laugh.

" Oh I don't have to tell you their names. If they ever see either of us again, they'll probably turn red and flee."

" Even Dumbledore?'

" Ha. We should be so fortunate. He managed to pretend he wasn't shocked, although he did light his beard on fire."

She laughed against his neck, and he relaxed. Not too long ago, he was furious because she had kissed him public; a memory that seemed absurd in it's simplicity, compared to the recent horror. Maybe he had been foolish, in his drunken, pain induced stupor. Foolish, and hasty. After all, if they could survive having their intimate moments displayed to seven witnesses, then what was a few Death Eater's and Lord Voldemort? Peanuts.

With that thought, he planted a kiss on her temple.

" Forgive me?" he murmured.

" Not yet, but your welcome to keep trying." she answered, tilting her head up so he could kiss her again.

" Oh, BLIMEY! HELP! I need a memory charm! Yeeps! Someone PLEEEAASE Obliviate meeee!" Ginny jerked away, nearly falling off of the table.

Behind her, in the doorway, was her brother Ron, holding his hands over his eyes and staggering madly back and forth, moaning and wailing dramatically in a wild imitation of a blinded man. He knocked several lamps and pictures to the floor, before seizing hold of the drape and sinking to the floor.

" I am traumatized. . .my eyes, my eyes. . ." he gasped, before collapsing with an audible thump.

" RONALD WEASLEY! HOW long have you been standing there? If I had my wand I would hex you so hard mother would have to bury you in a thimble, you utter PRAT! " Ginny screamed, scrambling off of the table and onto the floor.

Ron opened one eye and stuck his tongue out at her.

" Oh yes. . .that reminds me." Snape said , in a low almost bored tone." Professor Dumbledore said that he saw no reason why you shouldn't have this returned to you."

He drew out Ginny's wand and handed it over to her, a wicked gleam in his eye.

She took it from him with a wink, and whipped suddenly, striking Ron with her famous Bat-Bogey hex, followed by a Jelly-Leg curse. She had a few more lined up, and was prepared to fire them in rapid succession, but Severus laid a hand on her wrist.

" I think that will be sufficient enough to hold him. Shall we go?"

She nodded.

" Good day,Mr. Weasley." Snape said, stepping over Ron's sprawled form.

" Prat." Ginny nudged him roughly with her toe as she passed.

" My place or yours?'' she asked, linking an arm in Snape's. She knew he despised it when anyone used such deliberate ' Mugglisms '.

He glowered at her.

" Anyplace but here."

**  
**


	22. Almost like real lovers

**KitKat07-**Wow! Thank you very much for all of the wonderful reviews! I agree that it was a hard one to put Ginny and Severus together, but there were just so many Severus/Hermione stories. . .and I thought Ginny deserved a chance to be in a fun story, instead of so much angst.

And yes. . .I must say that it is a heck of a compliment to have my story clled hypnotizing. I hope you enjoy the rest of it as well!

**Marr Yanis-**Eep! Snape as a Pansy! Nooo, not even I could be that perverted! Have no fear!

**billijoe-**Read on, the answer to Dumbledore's beard is within! And yes, I am hoping to arrange a meeting sometime in the future fr Ginny and one of the ministry officials! Although I can't imagine how to describe the mortification!

**Excessivelyperky-**I almost did not put in the part about his beard. But I am glad I did, because everyone loved it! ou guys are great! I didn't think about doing something to Moody's eye. . .but that would be a hilarious thought!

**SeverusSnape'sLove-** grin Yeah I just wishe I had thought to zap Harry too, while I had Ginny mad. I think it would do him worlds of good.

**Queen of the Faeries 1-**Dumbledore is cool, but he's not that cool. Even he had to express a little shock! That is amazing about the Forget-Me-Nots. Someone else said that they were shocked about seeing me use one. You had them planted in the garden, and she had it as a special user name! Amazing coincidences! I didn't think people still liked them. I am glad people liked it in the story. . .to me it seemed like a touching thing, but I know a lot of people would have been upset if someone 'tattooed' someone without their permission. I think having a charmed one is okay though. It is part of him learning how to give common gifts, in an unusual and creative manner.

**LuSa-**Oh good! I was afraid that the scene might not have been potent! But if you laughed, then it was as good as I could hope to write! Thanks!

* * *

" Ouch! That hurts." he growled.

" I know. "

Ginny was lying with her face against his bare chest, and had taken one of his nipples between her teeth, biting it gently. She planted an apologetic kiss over the wound before working her way up his body so that she could look him in the eye.

'' Well? How was it?" she smirked at him.

" Perfect."

" Flatterer."

" Tart."

" Snark"

He put his fingers over her lips.

" Please. It's a wonderful moment, don't spoil it with your voice."

She thought about arguing further. . .it was a great and exciting precursor to what she hoped would soon be another round of fairly hot sex. But, instead, she decided to suck his finger into her mouth, tonguing it warmly.

He closed his eyes and sighed in defeat. She had managed to get in the last word, without even speaking.

It had been this way ever since they had stepped over Ron, and departed from headquarters, nearly ten hours earlier. She had firmly insisted that they would have dinner at the Burrow, an idea which he considered to be the absolute worst he had heard from her. But she would not relent, and eventually he had given in; being exhausted and feeling a definite headache growing behind his eyes.

He had been surprised to find him himself completely enjoying himself not an hour later. Well, maybe not actively enjoying himself, but he wasn't miserable and that was just as good. Molly Weasley had actually given him a very effective headache draught, and then fed him so much and so well, that he was certain he would die from gluttony. He rarely ever ate much, and never in all of his grim life had he had such a wonderful home-cooked meal.

He had even swallowed his pride and thanked her, complimenting her in a low mumble that was received in amusement from her, and earned him a glowing look of appreciation from Ginny.

After dinner, just as the atmosphere had begun to get a bit drowsy, Fred had burst into the kitchen, his face all freckles and grin from ear to ear.

" Mum? Did you hear? Ginny hexed Ron. He was a mess. .. all bogeys and. . ." his voice trailed off as he took in the scene before him. Ginny and Snape seated side by side like courting lovers on his parent's sofa, his mother knitting in a side chair, his father seated with his bare feet stretched out towards the fire. The picture of domestic peace and tranquility.

Until Ginny turned around and fixed him with a narrow glare.

He coughed nervously.

" And what did I do to deserve such a sisterly scowl?" he asked, taking a precautionary step backwards.

Molly and Arthur looked at each other with a sigh, and the complacent expression of parents who had survived years of hearing squabbling children, and patching up many a magical malady.

" _You_ Stupefied me." Ginny stated casually.

Fred grinned.

" I did not. it was a Petrificus charm. . . and besides, I had too. But it could have been a lot worse. Just think of what we could have done!"

" Think about what I can do."

" It was _George's_ idea_. I _was fully prepared to simply use a full-body bind." he held his hands up in insincere surrender.

Much to Mrs. Weasley's chagrin, Ginny had sent her hex through the back of the sofa, causing stuffing to fly, Snape to flinch, and Fred to fall stiffly to the floor.

" That body-bind? "she inquired of Fred's form. " No. . .you don't know this one. It is one of my specialties."

" Children, really. You are behaving in a most uncivilized manner." said Molly, shaking her head. " Ginny. .. let him go."

" I can't, Mum. It's a special hex. It will let him go in about one half hour. " she shrugged innocently.

" Well. . . at least put him on the rug." said Arthur.

" Why is he turning all red?" Molly exclaimed.

" Hmmm?" Ginny levitated her brother rather harshly to the rug, releasing him when he was still about ten inches from the floor. " Oh that. Yes that is a side effect of the tickling.''

" Tickling what?"

" It has a built in tickling charm. He will be tormented mercilessly until the spell unlocks." she said nonchalantly.

" Now it is getting very late, and I think I would like to go home. And you must be exhausted." she poked Severus leg, and giving him a pointed look that said clearly;

' I'll do anything you want as long as I don't have to be here when Fred is released.'

" Shall I escort you home, Miss Weasley? It is dangerous to be about by one's self these days." his voice held it's usual masking tone of contemptuous boredom.

" Lovely. Mum, Dad. . .Goodnight. "

After they had Apparated to her house, Ginny had pulled him inside, and they had soon soothed whatever lingering remains of a quarrel that might have been remaining.

( After they warded, locked, and sealed the house; of course. Just in case Fred decided to seek a little revenge.)

After a short but refreshing sleep, Severus had been wakened by her enthusiastic ministrations upon his person, which confused him, as well as pleased him. He had never had someone willingly perform such a favor.

Now he was basking in the hearty afterglow; preparing to reciprocate in full. . .just as soon as his breath returned and a few topics were discussed.

" Ginny? I need to ask you something "

" I thought you didn't want talk in bed?" she was playing with his hair.

I don't want to argue."

" Oh. . .then we best not even open our mouths." she grinned.

He twitched a little, recalling just where her mouth open mouth had been, only moments ago.

" Aren't you even curious about the request you made?"

" Which request?" she murmured.

" Your house?"

" Yes. Infuriatingly curious. Not to mention jealous that Hermione and Remus have been conspiring with you behind my back. " she tapped his chest." But. . .you see, I thought you were someone who would be put off by begging."

" Well a little begging might be appreciated."

" It would ruin the surprise."

" What surprise?" he asked, feeling he was justified in wanting to tease her a tad in return.

He wasn't prepared for the little tug of his heart that he felt when her face fell, disappointed.

" I was just wondering why you would make such a. . request, but then not hesitate to engage in. . .relations."

" I asked you to build me a house as proof of your sincerity.. I didn't say and ' I shall remain celibate until you carry me over the threshold' . I am not quite that old fashioned.Although I just want to say that it would be rather exciting to be thrown over your shoulder." she grinned.

" How about over my knee?" he quipped. " For that is exactly where you will be going if you don't give me some better answers."

" Ooh, barbaric. I did give you an answer. If you want to know just flat out why I slept-and am sleeping with you. . ."

" Yes?" he demanded.

" Because you are dead sexy, and you remind me of rivers and stormy days."

" Gloomy."

" Mysterious. The darker side of nature's beauty."

" I am older than you. . .you realize that don't you?"

" No! I had no idea." she faked surprise, placing both hands on her face in imitation of a child in amazement.

" I am serious."

" So am I. I can count. And I have been with boys. They were all. . .as you would so politely put it. . ._dunderheads_."

He nearly choked at her marvelous impression of himself.

" I could ask why you are sleeping with me. . .I have been putting you through hell, and yet you do not give up.Incredible."

" I have never walked away from a war that I haven't won."

" So you'll be staying a few years then?" her grin wasn't entirely all mischief.

" If you don't kill me somewhere along the way, it is a possibility."

" So where is my house?"

" Your in it."

She punched his arm.

" I cannot say. And you should not ask."

She pouted silently, holding up her hand so that she could admire the Forget-Me-Not. It was a shame, actually that she couldn't show it to Hermione.

" Well, may I be allowed to change the subject? " she asked after a moment.

" Mmmm." was the only response, so she took it as a yes, and rolled over so that she was almost completely on top of him.

" How did he set it on fire?"

" What?"

" Dumbledore? How did he set his beard on fire?" she had been very curious about that all evening, but had not wanted to ask while at the Burrow.

She didn't want to have to explain some things to her parents. . . not when they had been doing such a fabulous job of being supportive of her latest affair.

" I believe the term is ' spontaneous combustion.' He was thinking a warm thought, and suddenly his beard burst into flame. "

Ginny blushed.

" Well, that is both disturbing and flattering. . .I think."

" One more than the other, in my opinion. "

" Was it funny?'' she began kissing his neck.

" Exhilarating."

" You're funny." she said.

" Let's see if you laugh." he said rather threateningly, as he tucked her beneath his body, and began attacking her with small biting kisses.

She did laugh, at first. . .but as he began to travel in the direction of paradise, she forgot how to even breathe.

She raised her head slightly to catch a glimpse of him, and she gasped at the sight of his head, cradled between her thighs. His pale, sallow skin against her milky, freckled skin; the black lank locks of his hair falling across her thighs, and entwining with the auburn curls of her sex. It was intriguing and erotic, as much or maybe more that the exquisite sensations caused by the wet, pink, flickering of his almost serpentine tongue.

Her entire body went limp beneath his administration, and she collapsed backwards onto her pillow, melted. . .


	23. Diagon Alley

**KitKat07-Thanks for all the lovely reviews! I agree, it is an improbable scenario, between Snape and Ginny, and I think that's what makes it more exciting. :) I really dont think it is my writing so much, although I thank you profusely for your compliments, as much as the ' wickedness' of putting together such unlikely souls. Hmmm...I dunno about a courtroom POV, I hadn't thought about it before, but is a rather intriguing idea for a one shot!**

**And it does seem kind of odd that Lupin's name would be Lupin. . .even before he became a werewolf. Almost like it was premeditated, or maybe werewolves only bite certain surnames! If his last name had been Smith. . .he might have been fine!**

**Erica Dawn- Yeah I had to get in that line about his age. So many people are prejudiced against older people, I just had to let Ginny be different! She's not the kind of girl that would care one bit! Course she has problems with mature communication!**

**A/N -Okay, don't panic but I believe that Snape goes a just the slightest bit Ooc here. Honestly it is a very tiny instance, but I couldn't write the chapter without it. I guess since he is already wildly AU, it won't matter too much. Hope everyone enjoys! I am so excited, I almost have a hundred reviews! That is the most I have gottenn for one story on one site! I am so amazed that every one is enjoying this idea! Wow! **

** All right, enough of that. . .now on to the story!  
**

The inevitable day came. The beginning of the school year was drawing dangerously near, and the time for buying any last minute supplies had come.

Well, her time for such shopping had come. Apparently Snape had already handled his affairs, his coveted supplies were no doubt hoarded away somewhere safe, under lock and spell. He politely declined Ginny's invitation to accompany her to Diagon Alley. If she wanted to elbow her way through the jostling students and their distraught parents, that was her business. His business lay elsewhere and was private, he informed her.

He promised however to meet her at 2:00, and they would have a drink and a late luncheon some place dark and quiet. Ginny had kissed him goodbye then and warned him to stay away from crucifixes, garlic and running water. She had been gone for a good five minutes before he realized she had called him, in so many words, a vampire.

Odd, he would have despised anyone else saying that to him. He had never been able to differentiate the fine line between teasing and harassment; but coming from her. .. it only made him want smile. He had been having that urge more frequently of late, and even though he had it controlled to just the occasional rapid twitch of the mouth at the moment. . .he didn't know how long it would be before he accidentally broke into a genuine grin.

The thought of wearing his emotions; or anyone's emotions at that, so blatantly on his face like a moonstruck calf was both horrifying. . .and yet not so horrifying.Half of the time he was suspicious that people were looking at him and knowing that he was thinking of her. Then for no reason at all, he wanted to demand of random people;

" Don't you notice anything new about me today? Hmmm?"

She was driving him insane, that was what it was. He could _feel_ insanity creeping into his blood like gangrene. The last thought he had before leaving her flat that morning was that she had better still be worth it ' twenty years from now. '

Ginny had invited Hermione to join her, but she and Remus had already promised the Granger's that they would spend a week with them, and Ginny only hoped that the guest bed had well oiled springs, and the cabinets were stocked with chocolate. She knew it wasn't nice to think like that, but when you are the only girl, and you have six brothers. . .your thoughts aren't always going to be nice. Crude, yes. And funny too, in the way that makes twelve year olds snort milk through their noses. But not always nice.

Besides, Ginny was in a good mood. And when a Weasley is in a good mood, every one else in the world should beware.

She had intentionally waited until the day when most of the students would be in Diagon Alley, and she was rather pleased at the enthusiastic greetings she received from several of her students from the year before. She had a keenness for remembering names, and that delighted the children as well.

She often thought it was strange, that she should have become a teacher, when it had always seemed to her as if it were Hermione who was most suitable for the job. But Hermione had stepped right out of school and into the Ministry; knowing exactly where she wanted to go. She had begun with Muggle Communications, but through dogged determination, had reached the department that specialized in the rights of Half-bloods and Muggleborn witches. She also managed to put in an incredible amount of time and effort into campaigning for the acceptance of Werewolves, the emancipation of house elves, etc.

Ginny had actually tried out to be a healer, with a specialization in injuries due to Quidditch and flying. She had a great memory for it, but not the temperament. She was too impatient with cry-babies, and not strict when it came to prescribing bed rest.

When that venture failed, she had taken up work part time as an Apparition Examiner, and tutored on the side. Usually her students were hesitant fliers wanting to be better on a broom stick. She had also been helping Hermione with her research and work for the ministry, because she could transcribe notes faster than Hermione.

When Dumbledore had contacted her about the position of DADA teacher, she suspected that it was at Hermione's referral. Why else would she had been called up out of the blue? She had thought about refusing, but decided that she would take the position, with the hopes that she might take over the position of flying instructor if Madam Hooch retired.

Of course that was _last_ year. This year, she knew just how much it irked Snape that she had his coveted job, and she wasn't too sure now that she wanted to relinquish the beloved post. Maybe it all depended on how nice he was.If he was _really_ good, perhaps she could bargain with Dumbledore.

That didn't stop her from feeling anxious about the upcoming year. It is one thing to sleep with your old professor, but could you then work with him as your colleague? Especially when you were involved in some bizarre type of affair, that wasn't exactly dating. . .( no one could use terminology like that when speaking of Snape, ) but lay somewhere in the gap between a one night stand and a wedding ring? It was a big gap too.

But, even apprehension about their future together as competitive colleagues by day, passionate lovers by night could not drown out the joy and excitement she felt as she watched eager young first years with their noses pressed to windows, and their harried yet proud parents, some of them very confused Muggles, searching the school lists and reading every shop sign.

She saw that as usual, the biggest group of people had congealed around Fred and George's store. Short children bounced on their toes trying to see in the windows, as the lines moved sluggishly forward into the narrow, crowded building. Every so often, and grinning person would exit clutching their treasures close to their chests.

She thought about going over and having a look around, just so she would no what to expect from the students later in the year. About the time they starting getting into the rather boring subject of Hinkypunks, she could expect the occasional dungbomb or enchanted airplane. Maybe even flaming ink, or invisible parchments.

But, she decided it probably wouldn't be the best idea. George might have some revenge in store for her, and she couldn't stand up to both of them at the same time. She only wished now that she had perfected that Twin Charm she had been working on. It was supposed to enable someone to jinx one twin, and no matter where the other twin was, he or she would receive the exact same jinx. So far she had only managed to cause one twin to jinx, and the other to feel the exact opposite effect. Interesting. . .but disappointing.

She looked at her watch. It was fifteen minutes after one, and with a sigh, she turned to the robe shop. It was what she dreaded most. She had intentionally stalled as long as possible, enjoying herself as she purchased toiletries, quills, ink, parchment, and other small odds and ends, knowing that there was going to be an arduous task ahead.

She only needed two new robes. Her old ones from last year were still quite new, although a bit ' yesterday ' in the style department. She did need a new cloak, though, and as she suspected, the woman selling the robes had put an enormous amount of effort into trying to convince her that green would suit her better. Crimson simply _clashed_ with her hair_. Green_ was better.

" I agree." drawled Snape from the doorway, startling both women.

" Well, that is a miracle. I thought you never agreed." Ginny replied cheekily. Punctual as usual he had arrived at exactly 2:00.

The witch fitting the cloak saw this as an excellent opportunity, and turned to Snape, as if to implore him to convince her customer that green was better.

" So. . .you know each other then? '' she offered hopefully.

" Yes. She is my cousin, so I am told. And believe me, the _red_ is much better suited to her temperament."

He said it with an admirably straight face, and Ginny gestured to him to keep quiet, giving him a warning look in the mirror, as she tried not to blush.

He accepted it as a challenge, and waited until the woman had finished the fitting and was wrapping the purchases in brown paper. Then he came up behind Ginny, as she stood at the counter, and tucked his body as close as he could get it to hers. He leaned over to whisper in her ear, as he massaged her upper arms in a manner that was almost obscene in it's suggestive simplicity.

" I was in a mood for a quiet dinner somewhere, but seeing that woman's bottom when she leaned over for her pins, has completely murdered my appetite. Tell me, have you _ever _seen a posterior that was so overstuffed?" his tone was the same he used when he condescendingly asked rhetorical questions of his students. However his body language was easily misread by the rotund salesclerk.

Ginny's embarrassed face, and her haste to pay her fee and remove herself from the store was equally misleading. As they burst out of the store, they could hear the witch exclaiming indignantly that she could not believe just how immoral the world had become since the pristine days of her youth.

" Did you hear that? _You_ are immoral." she said to Snape, with a matter-of-fact nod of her head. She was free to grin now that she was outside.

" Isn't it a poet's; -to say nothing of a cynic's-moral duty to be immoral? " he said, then when seeing her inquisitive expression, he added; " A quote I discovered one day. John Fowles, a Muggle author."

" Oh. Hermione would probably have known that."

" I doubt it. Her tastes are a bit more dry. It was not a text book."

" So if you are immoral, does that make you a poet?"

" No, a cynic, of which I am very proud."

" You are proud to be a cynic?'' she asked around an amused smile.

" Yes. You have no idea how difficult it is to remain a cynic in the face of all the world's disgusting optimism."

Ginny laughed and patted his arm. His humor took a bit of getting used to, but once you adjusted to it, it could be rather charming.

" Look at all of this rampant and revolting optimism." Ginny said, as they passed a group of laughing teenagers. " Maybe we ought to duck inside someplace before we catch some of it."

" Yes. I think I know a place that is suitable. " he took her arm and steered her down a side street she had never noticed before. With a flick of his wand the packages of robes vanished, sent to her flat to join her other purchases. He led her then to a narrow door, covered with a green and gold striped canopy. Two or three couples sat outside, at delicate wrought iron tables, their hands entwined over desserts.

Inside it was both dark, and dim, and the smell of fresh breads and pastries was intoxicating, causing her mouth to water. They were seated at a tiny round table in a corner, after Snape had spoken quietly to the very short mustachioed man who seemed to be owner, waiter and cook, all three.

The man then brought out two enormous menu cards, and one large drink with two very curly straws stuck in the frothy liquid. After they had ordered, Ginny looked at the drink and raised a brow at Snape, who glared.

" Don't get that look, Miss Weasley. It has nothing to do with romance. The owner is just very eccentric. You would have received the same treatment had you been accompanied by another woman, or even a goat."

" I'll have to try that sometime." she winked.

" A woman or a goat?" he asked, suddenly curious.

" Oh, both, of _course_. I believe in being _very. . ._open-minded." she batted her lashes at him.

" I see. " he shifted in his seat. " Are you. .. looking forward to the year ahead?" he changed the subject to a safer topic.

She recognized the amount of effort that question took, though. He was still learning about polite conversation. . .and she had to admit. . .he was earning points for his efforts.

" Yes. And no. Last year was too easy. I am certain that a failure is in store for this year."

" Spoken like a true cynic, Miss Weasley."

" That's Cousin Ginny to you. . .love."

" Isn't it a little early in your career to be giving up?"

" I'm not giving up. I am just worried that last year was an accident and that this year I will fail miserably."

He didn't answer right away, waiting instead for the waiter to set down the platters of food. The Bistro might be a little shabby, and a mutated cross between a Muggle pub and a Magical tea shoppe, but the food looked and smelled delicious.

" Why would you think that?" he asked, watching her take a great mouthful of pasta.

She shrugged and looked down at her food.

" I was never very academic. I just think there are others who would be better. . .at that particular post. "

He stared at her for a moment, drawing up his courage from his feet. He wanted to say it, but he wanted it to sound sincere.

" I. . .in my opinion. . .you are. . .you are a very good teacher."

There! He had blurted it out, and it sounded rather sulky, but it was out. Finally! The evil truth he had been hiding, for two years. It hurt more than he thought it would, to admit that he admired just how well she had done for someone of her age. Not to mention that it was a hard subject. . .as difficult or more so than Potions.

She looked pleasantly shocked.

" You. . .you do? I mean you think so?" she asked.

He nodded his head. He had spoken it once, that was as much as she was getting from him today.

She smiled, quite prettily. She didn't need him to repeat it, or to gush out great strands of compliments and flattery. His simple statement and the sincereness of his eyes was enough.

" Well, then," she said, giving his hand a squeeze, " Thank you. "

And she meant it.

" Now. . .what happens if I blow very hard into this straw?" she asked placing her lips around the pink plastic, and giving him a look of sheer mischief to lighten the mood.

" Then I hex your lips to---what? What is it?" He asked, catching a look of panic in her eyes. He knew he wasn't that convincing when he mock threatened her!

" Over there!" she hissed, around the straw. " No! Don't turn around and stare. . .I just saw someone that I used to go out with. " she shuddered.

" Should I be jealous?" Snape asked, and her eyes widened when she felt his hand on her thigh. She was thankful for dim lighting,. . . and long tablecloths.

" No, he was a real creep. " she reciprocated his hidden caress.

" Then why were you seeing him?"

" He was a better creep than the one before him. " she smiled." That's how it used to be for me, going from one creep the next."

" May I ask who the creepiest one was?"

" Harry Potter." she answered.

Snape had been drinking out of the straw, and at the mention of his nemesis' name he snorted into the straw, blowing the drink all over her, and began choking.

" So that's what would have happened if I had blown into the straw!" she laughed.

" That isn't _Potter_ sitting behind us, is it?'' he gasped.

" Heavens no. It's some snivelly little prat named Adrien Cusp." she said returning to her food.

Snape did not. He sat, stunned for a moment, forgetting that he was still half choked.

" Wh-who?" he whispered.

" Adrien Cusp. Why, what is it?" she looked perplexed.

Snape had turned around viciously in his chair, almost falling over. He turned back around, twice as fast, his face pale and twisted into an inscrutable mask.

Ginny thought perhaps he was angry at her for mentioning her old beaux to him, and she reached out apologetically, expecting him to throw off her hand.He didn't. He clutched it tightly instead.

" Maybe we ought to leave now." he suggested urgently.

" Why? I didn't mean to upset you. . .''

" You don't understand. Do you know what that man does for a living now?" he demanded.

" Nooo. . .'' her first thought was that perhaps he was one of Voldemort's spies, or maybe a reporter for one of the gossip papers.

Actually the answer was much worse. . .as far as she was concerned.

" He works for the Ministry. He. . ._sat_ at my hearing!" Snape spat.

" Oh _no."_ she graoned in disbelief. " Tell me he didn't !"

" I wouldn't lie. He was the little bast-the one who did the interrogation."

" What do we do?" she squeaked, hunkering down over the table, hoping that Adrien might not notice her.

" Escape.'' Snape answered, standing.

Too late. Adrien had spotted her,. . .and her companion. His large brown eyes grew even larger, and his cheeks turned visibly redder. He turned and began talking animatedly to his female friend, who turned to stare at Ginny with a look of smug condescension.

Ginny did the first thing that came to mind. She stuck her tongue out at the woman, whose mouth dropped open, in surprise. Adrien rose, as if to confront them, but the woman pulled him back down, and with a smug look of her own, Ginny motioned Snape to sit back down.

" If they are offended they can leave. I, however, am not walking away from this delicious meal, which I intend to follow with an equally delicious desert."

He seated himself again, amazed at her boldness. He wanted to be anywhere else in the world, but he ewasn't going to play the coward and run, whils he sat there in all of hr Gryffindor splendor, ignoring the looks that Adrien was now sending her.

" He is a snivelly little prat. I thought you would have had better taste." Severus finally muttered into his plate.

" I did.' she answered cheerfully." I traded up for a wonderful old git. Now eat your food, you might just need your strength."


	24. I challenge Thee

**s.m. rahl-**pant, pant It's hard work building an imaginary house! I know it seems like i have forgotten it, but i promise I will get it crammed in there!

**Marr Yanis-**Yeah, I couldn't resist the urge to embarrass them in public. It was just too juicy! I do unto they characters as you would never want done unto myself!

**Lady Yueh-**Thank you! I am glad that you like the pairing. I think that we are all a little silly anytime we pair any of the fan characters. . .so why not go all out? I found less of this pairing than any of the others, and thought it was intriguing. Although I will admit, when I suggested it at the end of Everyone Knows, I never imagined that this sequel would follow! I can't say too often how pleasantly shocked I am at it's reception!

**SeverusSnape'sLove-**Oh. . he'll need it for this, and that. ;)

**Excessivelyperky-**Hmm...those are fun. Two bad they don't really work huh? I will have to see if I can't fit a line in there somewhere about Snape learning about her 'project' ! After all, being a Slytherin. . .he would enjoy it.

**Authors Note-I know I have gone crazy with the story line, but I think about the story so much I am starting to have weird dreams about it. Some of these ideas and lines are results of that! Anyhow, hope everyone enjoys reading as much as I enjoy writing, and if there are any errors or canon mistakes, please point them out and slap my hand. Thanks to you all:) **

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What came next was one of those examples of how for some people there is no such thing as a lucky break. Snape and Ginny had finished their lunch, and left the restaurant in the middle of an animated discussion on the proper way to handle Cornish Pixies. Ginny was attempting to reason that the old methods were outdated, and Snape was saying that it was a moot point , who fought Cornish Pixie's anymore?

Ginny, exuding passion for the subject, had turned so that she was facing him, and walking backwards down the street. They continued their discussion thus, with her glancing back every so often to check the path, and him occasionally reaching out and nudging her out of the way of an oncoming post or pedestrian.

From Pixies, they leapt verbally to Banshees, and Ginny had just opened her mouth to agree that Lockhart had been an idiot, but his articles about Banshees were undeniably accurate, when she collided into someone who had walked unexpectedly from a side alley.

The impact drove her into Snape, who had to flail wildly to maintain his balance.

" Excuse me! " she had laughed, after righting herself, turning to apologize sheepishly to her victim, but whatever excuse she had been about to offer died on her lips when she found herself face to face with Cusp.

" Excuse me. " she said again, coolly. " I did not mean to-"

" Didn't mean to what, Weasley?" Adrien demanded. " You have already ruined my lunch, and insulted my date with your uncalled for and childish behavior; why wouldn't you want to knock me onto the street and trample me to death as well?''

Ginny heat rising to her face, and instinctively took a step closer, her hand already wrapped around her wand. Snape, who had not overheard Cusp's low remark, saw Ginny's movement, and seized her elbow reflexively.

" Let go of my arm, Severus." she said, calmly.

" No need to be rude. " Snape said, his tone even and low. " Mr. Cusp, we meet again."

Adrien gave a derisive snort.

" I wouldn't say that. " he retorted.

" You never were very articulate." Snape replied.

" And you are no longer my Professor. "

" The blessings I have accumulated today continue to grow."

" I have no intention of allowing myself, or my date, to be insulted by you. . .or this little. . .tart." Adrien's voice went up almost an entire octave.

" Adrien, you always were delusional." Ginny said, and made to step around him.

He put out his hand and pushed her back, using the tip of one finger, which he hastily wiped on his immaculate robes.

" Delusional? Maybe. But I suppose it's better than being you. I would have thought you to be different."

" If I remember correctly, Adrien, you always did assume a lot of things about me that were incorrect." Ginny practically spat now, trying to free her elbow from Snape's grip.

" It's nice to see you have gotten over your frigidity. Now you'll shag anyone? Or anything, if I may correct myself? You know he is a filthy Deatheater? How poor are you these days, that you have to go wallowing so low for a galleon? "

" Fucking bastard!" Ginny said, but before the words were out of her mouth, she was shoved violently to the side, as Snape leapt across the small amount of atmosphere between himself and the now screeching Cusp. A small crowd of people had gathered to watch as the older wizard, easily recognized by many of them, seized the younger man by the lapels and slammed him against the wall of the wand makers shop.

Ginny now had her wand out, and she turned on the crowd, as well as the curious shopkeeper who dared to peek out.

" Why don't you go about your own business? " she yelled, and a few of the onlookers hurried off to watch from a safer distance.

" I would believe. . ." Snape was purring poisonously, his great hawk-like nose almost touching Adrien's pointy little beak. " That an apology to Miss Weasley is in order."

" Apologize to her then. I'm not the one who publicly humiliating her."

" Actually you are." Ginny said.

Snape flicked his eyes to her briefly, asking her silently to allow him the honor. She acquiesced graciously, curious to see how her new lover was going to handle her ex-fiance.

" Apologize to Miss Weasley." Snape said again.

" Or what? You'll take me to Voldemort?" Adrien hissed.

" I can't imagine why he would want a piddling little Hufflepuff like yourself."

" Bringing school animosities into it, Snape? " Cusp laughed.

" You were the one who brought your lunch into it.If I didn't know any better, I would say that you arranged this little collision for the sole purpose of antagonizing us. Of course that would be giving you entirely too much credit, wouldn't it? "

" Get your hands off of me. "

" What's going on here? Ginny?" Ginny glanced back over her shoulder, to see George standing nearby. Further down the road, Fred was standing in the doorway of '' Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes'', squinting down the street to see what the commotion was about.

Ginny gave a little shrug.

" I think Severus is going to kill Adrien.." she said matter-of-factly.

" Oh, jolly. Fred! Close up the shop for a half hour. Snape is going to murder Adrien Cusp!"

" Wicked! I always wanted to do that myself." Fred called back.

" Adrien Cusp?" asked a dumpy grey haired woman standing in the crowd of onlookers. " I know you! You're the one who got my husband arrested for black-marketeering. Hah! That was before yourself got demoted. Go on, kill him then, I won't shed a bloody tear."

" Looks like you are awfully popular these days." Ginny laughed. She could see though that Snape was desperately struggling with his temper. He no doubt wanted to break Adrien's neck, and Ginny doubted she would have tried to stop him if he did.

But Snape had been in the world for far too long to succumb to the temptation of strangling an insolent Ministry employee, for no better reason than an insult to pride. He knew far better ways to get even, and he could see quite easily that Mr. Cusp was just the sort that would fall into that trap. . .too easily.

" You have insulted us both, Cusp. . .and if you were a man, I would challenge you to a duel. However it would be too much of an embarrassment for me to associate my name against one such as you. You probably wouldn't even appear, you cringing excuse for a man. " Snape kept his voice low and calm.

Adrien's face burned a violent shade of purplish red, and he spluttered madly for a few seconds.

" Is that so? Is that so? Well, now I am insulted Snape! And I challenge _you_ to a duel! I dare you not to attend. . .I dare you to refuse, you sniveling coward. " Adrien's voice was neither low nor calm, and several people gasped. A duel was illegal, and therefore totally and thoroughly exciting.

" As I am the one challenged, then I have the right to name the location, the time and the weapons.." Snape said.

" Today!." Adrien countered.

" Three days. Enough time to acquire seconds and find reliable witnesses."

" Fine. Three days. " Snape released Adrien, who began brushing off his robes.

" To the death?" Snape asked, raising a brow.

Ginny opened her mouth to protest, but George placed a hand on her shoulder., and leant down far enough to whisper something in her ear.

" We'll have to Obliviate the lot of them." he said. " We can't take chances that someone might blab. "

He and Fred, who had appeared suddenly behind them nodded at each other and began to circle around the spectators.

" I. . .I suppose." Adrien faltered, suddenly seeming to recall that he this was a Death Eater that he had just challenged.

" Of course we can't use our own wands. I want blank wands from the ministry cache. " Snape suggested.

" Of course."

" We will need a location. And a time."

" I think that that lovely lakeside where you picnicked would be delightful. Such a romantic atmosphere for dueling." Adrien wrinkled his nose in distaste.

" I will owl you with the location, the time, and the name of my second. Each party should bring suitable and trustworthy, witnesses as well." Snape said.

" And Cusp. . .you might want to see that your affairs are in order. After all. . .one never knows." Snape added with a slight sneer.

" I don't believe Snape, that witnesses are necessary or-"

" Have you ever attended a duel, Mr. Cusp?"

" N-No."

" Well, I have, and I assure you, that witnesses are imperative to the fairness of the duel. Not to mention that someone needs to be responsible for the removal of the body. Now, shall we pretend for the moment that we are gentlemen?" Severus held out his hand.

Adrien hesitated again. If he shook the proffered hand, then the duel would be binding. At last he raised a somewhat trembling hand and shook, briefly and with some agitation.

Then with a sneer in Ginny's direction, he flipped his robes and strode off around the corner.

Ginny glared after him for a moment. Snape was silent beside of her, reticent about facing her. He had just barely escaped being tried for the murder of Gold, and now he was willingly and perhaps foolishly thrusting himself into another situation where his life and freedom might be at stake. . He didn't know what had made him agree, what had possessed him to suggest such a thing as a duel to Cusp.

Maybe it was the conversation about Lockhart that had subconsciously brought to surface the memory of how good it felt to duel with and beat a fool, but most likely it was the look of angered hurt on Ginny's face when Adrien had insulted her so strongly. He had never felt the desire to come to the defense of a woman before and he took a few moments to savor the feeling of honest nobility the gesture had brought about. It felt, he decided at last. . . bloody good.

At last he dared a peek at her, sideways, not knowing what to expect. Would she be furious with him for this new folly?

She didn't look furious. She looked as if she had just won a million galleons.

'' You are going to duel. . ." she said softly. " For me. . .or for you?"

" For both of us. " he said honestly.

She nodded.

The twins appeared again, pocketing their wands.

" That was brilliant mate. " Fred said.

" You know how much I value your opinion." Snape answered sarcastically, and was rewarded with a healthy clap on the back from George.

" Oh come on now. And after we Obliviated all of your witnesses too. But no need to thank us."

" And please, even though I know how desperately you want to, don't embrace us here on the street." said Fred.

" I will try to restrain myself." Snape said.

" And please don't do us the honor of asking either of us to be your second. " said George.

" Noooo... We have nothing against doing business with you, and you are a fantastic kisser. . . but getting ourselves hexed for you is a different bowl of pea soup."

" Right you are Fred. Sorry mate, sorry Ginny, but we are much too young, much too handsome and much too popular to get killed this year."

" Are you really suggesting that Adrien Cusp has a chance of winning?" Ginny demanded hotly.

Fred held up his hands in sign of truce.

" No, I wouldn't dare to imply such a notion while the two of you were facing me...but I am certain that one of his pasty little friends will be too eager to turn you all in to the Ministry after he loses."

" So good luck, it has been lovely to know you both, but I am sure that somewhere out there is a disgustingly noble person who won't hesitate to be your second. " George added.

The two young men bowed with identical flourishes and Apparated themselves back down the street to their shop, leaving behind them their sister, their ex-Potions Master, and a quickly dispersing huddle of befuddled looking pedestrians that couldn't quite recall why they had all been standing together in a group.

Snape gave a great sigh of irritation at the events of the day, and began to walk, in the opposite direction of the one Cusp had taken. Without a word, Ginny fell into step beside him, holding her head proudly erect.

" Well? " Snape demanded after a few paces." Aren't you going to say anything?"

" Yes. I think you should have just choked him to death."

" I could have hardly justified such a brash action."

" There was no justification for his behavior."

" I have still have the strangest suspicion that our confrontation with Mr. Cusp this afternoon was not entirely an accident."

" Of course it wasn't. He must have excused himself from the restaurant, and ran through the alley with every intention of confronting us."

" Insane."

" Jealous, probably."

Snape's lips tightened a little in anticipation of her explanation. When it did not come, he gave her an impatient look and urged her to go into more detail, citing that it was only reasonable for him to want to know what sort of a man he was up against.

" Not much of a man at all. I suppose I should be completely honest with you on a certain matter."

She had been unaware that he was holding her hand, until his grip tightened almost painfully. She glanced up at his face but it was, as usual, completely expressionless.

" I would appreciate the gesture." he said stiffly.

" I was engaged to him." she said bluntly.

His grip became as unbearable as a steel trap, but she did not complain. She wondered if maybe she should have mentioned this earlier? Of course, she really couldn't think of a time when blurting out a list of her former lovers would have made for enjoyable conversation.

" Engaged."

" Yes, rather impulsively. I was escaping from Mi-, well, from a bad relationship, and I thought that Adrien was a sympathetic and sensitive person."

" Disappointed?"

" Oh my assumptions were correct. However I learned quickly that I have no use for snivelly, '' senstive '' boys that go crying to mother anytime I raise my voice." she pulled a comical face, suggesting severe distaste. " Honestly, he made me have the intense urge to vomit, so I disposed of him in a pub and never looked back. "

" That isn't everything." he observed. He had noted with ease how quickly she glossed over the last tidbit.

At his words, she shot him a piercing look, as if trying to discern whether he had heard all of this before, from another source. When she could not detect anything but curiosity she sighed and shook her head.

" It was an ugly separation. I gave him quite a tongue lashing, in public, trying to humiliate some backbone out of him. I was rewarded with a few quick punches that I didn't see coming. I hexed him, he hexed me, we were separated forcefully by a few bystanders, and I went off to France with Hermione to seethe." she shrugged against him.

'' Bastard.''

She shot a coy look up at him from beneath her lashes.

" Angry with me?" she simpered.

" No. Why should I be?"

She jumped up and kissed his cheek, grinning broadly. He stopped walking and regarded her.

" But I want you to know that I have already decided to win this duel, so if you are expecting to get rid of me that easily, you are sorely mistaken." his lips twitched as he spoke.

" I love it when you tease me. " she kissed him again. " Hey, what was Fred on about when he said you were a good kisser?"

Snape's face flushed slightly.

" Just your brother's idea of a joke. " he coughed. " Left over from the days of perfecting the Wolfsbane potion. "

" Just wondering if perhaps I should be jealous. " she winked at him. " And what is this about doing business with them? "

" I believe that is a short story best saved for a longer day. I have a duel to prepare for, after all."

'' Right. And I will help. So what is it that we have to do first?"

" We have to locate a disgustingly noble person to be my second."

They looked at each for a moment, then with two identical nods of their heads, they both stated;

" Lupin."


	25. Between a Challenge, and a Duel

**Marr Yanis**- grin I am trying to imagine a quaing Musketeer-like duel, but all sorts of images keep flashing to mind. One of them being of course, the " I am your Father, Luke," scenario. Now I keep having images of everyone going Fight! Fight! while the wands make lightsaber sounds!

**excessivelyperky-**I had a hard time with the second. I tried it with Harry Potter, of course, but just couldn't seem to be able to write him very well. Although I do think it would be a funny situation to have this desirable girl there, being fought for by all of her ex-beaux! And thanks to you for reminding me of Umbridge so that i could tie up that loose ministry end with her name and make Adrien completely unlikebale:)

**SeverusSnape'sLove-**Yeah, but anything that is an insult from Snape is usually a compliment elsewhere:) **  
**

**dubtheunforgiven-**Yeah, they ares starting to know each other pretty well!

* * *

-Between a Challenge, And a Duel, 

There lies,

The Universe, and my purpose, reflected

In your eyes.-

* * *

An hour later, Ginny Apparated into her house alone. 

There was not enough time to wait for Remus and Hermione to return home from their stay at the Granger's, and Ginny's suggestion that they be polite and owl them was greeted with a rather sullen glower from Snape, who did not believe in practicing patience when, and if, it could be avoided.

After a time-consuming and immature argument, Ginny finally convinced Snape to wait until morning before they burst in un-announced on the Granger's. People were generally a little more forgiving in the morning than in the middle of the night.

She had suggested that if he didn't want to wait, that he could ask one of her brothers. . .but he had scoffed and reminded her of the twins remarks. She had reminded him that she had four other brothers, he reminded her right back that technically she only had three other brothers unless she was actually suggesting that Percy had been re-accepted into the loving embrace of the Weasley clan. She had retorted hotly that she thought he owed Bill a favor, since Bill had generously given him a reward for his d clever trick on Remus.

" I don't consider offering someone the opportunity to be killed by a badly aimed hex to be a favor." he had answered sullenly.

" You're not supposed to aim hexes of your second. " she retorted.

" You now good and well what I meant. But if you are so anxious to be rid of one of your siblings, just name me the one and if Lupin refuses then I will consider it."

" I do NOT want to be rid of anyone, I was only-" she was cut off when he pulled her close and planted a brief kiss on her forehead.

" You are undeniably fascinating when you are angry, and I look forward to finishing this discussion as soon as possible. However, since we have decided to wait until morning , I have plenty of time tonight to revise my will, in case of death.."

" Don't even say that!" she said quickly.

" It is just a precaution." he assured her. " and another precaution is that I am not leaving until I am certain that you are safely Apparated home. "

" Yes, Mother." she replied, but she smiled to herself anyhow. He was quite the authority figure, having drawn himself up to his full height, and crossed his arms over his narrow chest. His sallow face wore a scowl that didn't quite make it to his eyes. She noticed that he was having more and more difficulty these days creating a believable scowl.

She gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek, and his frown sagged a little.

" Go on, girl. I have business to attend to." his said in what for him was an almost teasing tone of voice.

Ginny had not been able to sleep due to nerves, so between her and Sevvy-baby, they had emptied a small bottle of wine. However, whereas Ginny was perfectly capable of drinking with the best of them, going to bed, and being fine in the morning. . .Sevvy-Baby wasn't accustomed to social drinking, and could only hang limply over her arm, his tongue unrolled, by the time she stumbled them both down the hallway to the bedroom.

He wasn't as argumentive as the real Severus, but at least she would have one Snape with her tonight , she thought as she fell onto the pillow and into sleep.

When Snape broke through her sloppily placed wards three hours later, he found her lying face down in what was now technically his pillow, with that ridiculous reptile laying over her thigh. He left her undisturbed, but took Sevvy-baby into the kitchen, where he transfigured him into a glass paper weight, and sat him on top of a hastily scrawled note, informing her that he had settled his affairs, and that in case of his death, all of his possessions would go to her, after his debts were paid, etc.etc. and that he would be expecting her dressed and ready to accompany him by seven thirty in the morning.

It sounded pleasingly tart, and with a little tremor of satisfaction at the knowledge that the briskness would irk her, he had Disapparated from the her house, re-setting her wards behind him.

At Seven thirty sharp the next morning, he appeared in her kitchen, where he found her waiting, a stern look of disapproval on her face, his note in one hand, and Sevvy-Baby, who was still a palm-sized paperweight, in the other.The sunlight from the window was refracting through him, sending beams if prism-rainbows across the room.

" First of all..." Ginny said, holding up the letter. " This is morbid."

" It's traditional, and practical." he countered, leaning in for a kiss.

She shook her head, pulling back out of his reach. Her face was serious, but her eyes sparkled.

" No. . .not until you remedy this." she sat the paperweight in his hand. " I tried everything, but I couldn't get him to do more than glow."

" Quite the improvement." He replied, setting the lizard down on the counter before muttering a wandless counter-charm, which melted Sevvy-Baby back into his old scaly self. Unfortunately, the spell didn't deem to have sat too well with the wine that he had imbibed the night before, and as he tried to walk toward his mistress, he gave what might have been a hiccup, side stepped too far to the left and fell off of the counter, and onto the rug with a soft boneless thump.

Ginny and Severus looked at each other for a long moment, before sharing the amused look and laugh of parents whose offspring has just done something embarrassingly and dangerously adorable. Sevvy-Baby, apparently more bruised of pride than of body attempted to disappear under the sofa, but Ginny caught him before he could disappear.

" I am taking him with me. I think the fresh air will do him good."

" I can see now I am going to regret having ever given him to you. " Severus sighed, pulling her close against him so that they could Apparate.

" Do you know where we are going?" he asked.

" Yes. There is a private back yard, we can navigate right into it, and no one will see us." she said, purposefully teasing him by rubbing her face across his chest.

" Good. I will guide us navigate us generally, and you try to land us in the yard."

" On the count of three, Professor?"

A loud crash sounded from the dining room of the Granger's house. It was followed by the sounds of two people, bickering.

" I thought you said you knew where you were going." a man said.

" No, you said you were going to handle navigating us. I thought you could find the back yard!" a woman retorted.

" How can I know for sure where the back yard is , when I have never been here before?"

" Well, so much for knocking politely on the door and say- Oh, hello Hermione!" Ginny smiled.

' Ginny? Severus?. . .what are you doing?" Hermione had a piece of toast in her hand, and looked particularly bushy haired.

" Oh. . .well, I think it's best if he tells you." Ginny nodded at Severus.

" Me? Why should I always be the one who has to do the explaining?"

" Fine. It's rather important, you see yesterday we met-." Ginny began.

" I thought you said I was going to explain?" Severus interrupted.

" You said you didn't want to!" Ginny said in exasperation.

" I said nothing of the sort. Besides you will explain it incorrectly."

" Do you have to argue about everything?" Ginny asked.

" I wasn't arguing."

'' Yes. . you were. I said-"

" Excuse me?" Hermione waved her hand between them, laughing a little." Let's go into the kitchen, and then you can begin with why the two of you are here. "

Hermione held open the door to the pristine white kitchen and Ginny and Severus entered, and were met with three sets of confused eyes. Remus Lupin was seated beside Mrs. Granger, who had been showing him a photograph album. Mr. Granger had been in the process of raising a teacup to his mouth.

Mum, Dad, we have company." Hermione said around a mouth full of toast. She pointed to Ginny. " Of course you remember Ginny." Ginny shyly waved the hand that was not holding Sevvy-Baby.

" And this is Professor Severus Snape. Apparently they have some ' rather important news.' "

" Is it anything that needs to be discussed in private?" asked Mrs. Granger, politely.

" Oh, no. . .it's nothing of that nature." said Ginny, before Snape had a chance to bluntly say ' yes' ."

She sat Sevvy-Baby down on the cold tile floor, and watched as he staggered around carefully. He was still partially hung over, and half stunned from having been turned into a glass paperweight. But at least he had stopped vomiting. ( Ginny hoped Mrs. Granger didn't notice the dining room carpet.)

" Is he all right?" Hermione asked, brow furrowed.

" Oh he will be. He had a little bit too much to drink last night." Sevvy-Baby let out a small reptilian noise that must have been approximate to a belch. Mr. Granger's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

" Interesting." he remarked.

An awkward little silence fell. . .until Ginny nudged Severus and tilted her head toward Remus.

" Well. . .go on." she whispered.

Snape cleared his throat, and tugged his collar away from his throat.

" I seem to have been challenged to a duel, " he began. " And I have accepted. "

Hermione opened her mouth to protest that dueling was illegal, even in the Wizarding World. But Lupin managed for once to speak first.

" Challenged? On what grounds?''

" I called someone a coward. "

" Who?"

" Whom. It was Adrien Cusp."

A collective ' ohhh ' went through the group. Apparently Snape was the only person who had not known Cusp well enough to dislike him fully.

" I have accepted, because he..., before he. . .challenged me, he insulted Ginevra."

Ginny glared at him for choosing to use her full name, but she didn't interrupt. The whole thing looked remarkably painful to Snape.

" And it would be. . .an honor. . .Lupin," he drew in a deep and bracing breath before blurting out the rest of the

sentence; " an honor if you would accept the position as my second."

The entire room went silent, and everyone turned expectantly to Remus, who looked as if Snape had just proposed to him. He had pulled back in the chair and was contemplating Snape with a look of sheer suspicion. He opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by a sniffle from his wife. Everyone turned to Hermione, who had out a handkerchief and was crying rather openly into it.

" Hermione, what is the matter?" Remus asked, bewildered.

" Oh, that is so. . .I mean , he is willing to die for her just because someone insulted her. That is so, sniff romantic. No one has ever offered to do that much for me!" she said, looking at her husband in almost an accusatory fashion.

" Hermione, I would gladly do the same for you. . .' Remus gave a nervous little laugh, blushing slightly.: But, Love no one has insulted you." he patted her arm.

" If I survive I might try to remedy that." Snape said irritably.

" No, don't bother. I don't know what is wrong with me. " Hermione wiped her eyes, and smiled affectionately at Remus.

" Hormones." Mrs. Granger said knowingly. " Why when I was expecting Hermione, there were days when I would just cry for no reason at all, I could just look at the wallpaper and want to cry." she laughed.

I could look at your wallpaper and want to cry as well, Snape thought, but he didn't dare speak it aloud.

" May I have your answer?" he asked instead, hoping he sounded at least remotely civil.

The eyes turned against to Remus, who was rubbing the back of his neck vigorously.

At last he met Snape's eye, and with a deep and mournful sigh he replied;

" No."

" NO! What do you mean NO? demanded Snape after a moment of shocked silence.

" I mean no. "

" You can't refuse!" Snape insisted indignantly.

" Oh yes I can!" Remus argued adamantly.

" On what grounds?" Ginny interjected.

" I. . .have a dentist appointment."

The excuse was so absurd, and so intentional in it's absurdity, that everyone at the table blinked in surprise for a moment. Then Hermione snickered, and the laugh was picked up by the others, especially the dentists, until everyone except for Severus was smiling. He had smiled, and given a little hiss between his teeth that was as close to a public bout of gaiety as he was going to get, but he had recovered quickly, and was now glaring at Remus.

" Is this your idea of a joke at my expense?" he asked him.

" Absolutely not. Last year I would have gladly accepted. But I have Hermione now, and a child, to think of. I can't volunteer myself so readily for death, when I have just discovered something to live for."

Hermione gave a little sob and buried her face against Remus' shoulder, and Snape's mouth twisted into a sardonic smile.

" Lupin, you are the only person that I know, who can make a coward's out sound like a noble sacrifice." he sighed in defeat. " Well, then may I ask if you could recommend someone else?"

Ginny suddenly jumped up from her seat, smiling excitedly.

" I didn't think of it before," she slapped her forehead." but I could be your second."

" Absolutely not!" Snape said.

" Why not?" she demanded hotly. " Is it because I am a woman?"

" No! And . . .at the same time yes!" he said beginning to pace in agitation. " Not because you are _a_ woman. .. because you are _the_ woman, and I don't care how skilled you are, you would be in an incredible amount of danger."

" From what?" she asked.

" Have you ever seen Cusp use a wand properly?" asked Lupin. " He is a menace, one of the spells could ricochet off ofa tree and kill everybody."

" Thank you, that is very comforting." Snape murmured.

" Pleasure."

" I didn't know you were acquainted with Cusp."

" Certainly. He was quite a nuisance, working for Umbridge and all. Nasty ideas for what should be done with werewolves, centaurs,. . .Muggles. " Lupin waved a hand. " He had a lot of people arrested for piracy,

thievery. . .including Fletcher. Remember him? "

Snape gave a little grunt that said he could care less about the now whereabouts of Mundungus Fletcher, ex-Order member.

" I still think that I could-" Ginny tried in a more seductive tone.

" No."

" Fine. Get killed, see if I care. " she sat down at the table and pouted, her chin on her folded arms.

" Might I suggest Harry?" Lupin tried. " He is responsible in a way and-" he stopped when he saw the horrified look on Ginny's face.

The last thing she wanted was to have three of the men she had dated all in one triangle. The only thing that would make that nightmare complete was if Michael Goodlong, Francis Wolf, and Dean Thomas showed up to cheerlead the spectacle.

" Or maybe not." Lupin amended, with a shrug.

" Isn't dueling illegal?'' Mr. Granger piped up from his side of the table, and was instantly bombarded with glowers from his wife and daughter.

" So I am told. " Snape answered. " well, if no one an offer a better solution, I will ask one of Miss Weasley's brothers."

" Oh, you don't mind getting one of them killed!" Ginny huffed.

" You were the one who suggested it to me this morning."

" That was before I knew you were going to be so arrogant."

" Well, we wouldn't be in this absurd position if-" he began.

" You hadn't tried to kiss-" she replied.

" -if you hadn't set those rules-"

" -so impatient at the picnic-" they were both talking at the same time, and their voices were growing louder. Un-noticed by both of them, Remus and Hermione were talking quietly to the side, and she was biting her lip and frowning. At last she nodded her head, and he sighed, looking for a moment the memory of his old tired self.

She spoke something to him, that he had to lean in close to hear, because now Ginny was talking exceptionally loud, with her wand in hand. . .and both of the Grangers had stepped safely back against the wall.

" Ginny? GINNY?" Hermione bellowed at last, and Ginny clamped her mouth shut.

Hermione now stood, sternly regarding her friends, hands on hips, and her old bossy look in place, across her pretty face.

" Even though the two of you are impetuous, uncontrollably presumptuous, ill-tempered and the very source of chaos;" she began. " And even though at the moment, with the way you are behaving, I can't think of one good reason why either of you deserve assistance, we have talked it over. . .as well as we could. .." she shot a look at Ginny, who blushed.

" And yes . . . I will be your second." Remus said in a weary tone. The words; " so that maybe some of us will get some peace at last" hung unspoken after his sentence.

" But of course, I expect you to be eternally indebted to me." he said instead, offering a light smile, at Severus' look of relieved gratitiude.

" I will kiss your feet." Snape said sarcastically, and they shook hands.

" And I'll bring a camera." Hermione snorted.


	26. A Day and a Duel

**Author's Note-**Okay, the duel scene everybody! I hope everyone likes it, and that it seemed not oo burdened down with details, nor to fast and lame. I have such a hard time with action scenes, tht I am dancing on tenterhooks waiting to hear what you guys think! **  
**

**SeverusSnapesLove-**I hope what Cusp gets is all that he deserves as well. :)

**Erica Dawn-**Glad you like. And no, I wouldn't think that wine would be really good for a real lizard. However it's all cool for a fictional one.;)**  
**

**excessivelyperky-**Haha!That is a fun thought, turning thine enemies into companions for your pets! I am glad that everyone agrees that Cusp is awful. I was worried he might seem to tame.

**Queen of the Faeries1-**Poor Sevvy-Baby. Life _is_ tough when you are a lizard!

**billijoe-**Aww, I am glad you like it that well. I tried to keep a little humor in it, even during the serious parts.

**Darth Depravious- **Yeah that was what I thought. Who would really want to be Snape's second? I like the new user name, btw, very cool! **  
**

27.

The third day dawned, and the light was vague and colorless behind the pearly grey mists. There was a promise in the air of a slow, chilly, morning rain, followed by a bleak, muddy afternoon, and a positively dreary evening.

In Ginny's guest bedroom, Severus and Remus were fitting on the last of their outfits; heavy, yet soft leather dueling gloves. The room was a cheerful pale violet color, with a poster of a Muggle rock band on one wall, and a magical moving poster of a Quidditch team on another. Severus couldn't help but think that the modern decor was clashing wildly with the conventional and sacred tradition of dueling, and the ceremony surrounding the custom.

If there had been more time, he would have arranged for a more somber place of preparation, where the painted rock stars weren't leering at him, and the sounds of the two women ' cooking breakfast' couldn't be heard. The smell of the eggs and rashers was making him ill, but he refused to admit he was nervous when Remus questioned him.

Even if he did know himself that it was so. In fact, the quiet solitude of the back bedroom, where they had donned the dueling clothes; solemnly straightening a buckle here, smoothing a wrinkle there; was very similar to the preparation for a wedding, and he was for a moment amused at the thought that a second man " stood up with you" on both occasions.

He was interrupted from his reverie of comparison between the a duel and a marriage, by the tapping of an owl at the window. Lupin let the bird in, and read the scroll, nodding. It was a confirmation of the two witnesses that they would attend.

They had experienced some difficulties in finding objective witnesses. The Weasley's were obviously exempt from this category as each one had declared that they would rather spit on Adrien than admit he had won something fairly. For once in his life, Snape actually had too many ' friends', and each name he had submitted had been turned down by Cusp.

At last with some deceit, they had chosen Tonks, and she had agreed to go in disguise, and under the name of

'' Mary Smith ". They had all been amused when Adrien had accepted that name without question, even though to Snape, and probably the rest of the world, it sounded painfully false.

The second witness that they chose was Harry Potter, and they had such a notorious rivalry with each other, that Adrien Cusp had accepted it without much more than a blink, assuming that Potter would not miss an opportunity to humiliate his ex-professor.

However what Adrien didn't know; and what even Ginny did not yet know, was that Harry Potter, and Ron Weasley, ever since the day Snape had gone to visit them ( in question over the jinxed candies,) had been working together with him perfecting some new recipes for charmingly charmed confections, that Fred and George were only too willing to sell for them. Snape had discovered that his potions talents had a new purpose, and his vault was becoming steadily fuller.

Since some of the ingredients were illegal, and therefor, difficult to come by, Snape had needed the occasional assistance from the men; one of whom was an Auror, (and could sometimes go where even a spy could not.) and the other, who was a Ministry official, ( and could officially overlook the rather suspicious goings on in a particular tavern).

It was beneficial to all of them, and Harry was very willing attend the duel in the capacity of a judge and witness.

After they were dressed,there was nothing to do except wait; it was still an hour before they had to be at the dueling point. Snape looked at his reflection once more in the mirror.

He wore black trousers, and a fitted black shirt with sleeves that would not hinder arm movement. Over this was quilted black vest that would not protect from serious spells, but would cushion any falls or hurled objects. Besides, it was traditional, and he admired tradition. It was pitiful to see younger witches and wizards, angrily dueling it out in their blue jeans and tee shirts.

The knee high black boots were soft and flexible, polished by hand to a stunning shine. The gloves had green silk cording around the wrist; the only hint of his house alliance.

Over all of this, he wore the black robe, that was more of a coat, since it had starched wide lapels and was open from the throat to the waist, where it buttoned with a single silver button, before falling away again; flaring out until it rested an inch above the instep of the foot.

Over all of this was his cloak, tied loosely at the shoulder so that if could be removed with a single tug of the cord.

He glanced over at Lupin, who was dressed similarly, only his clothing, as per tradition, were dove grey; to distinguish him as the second.

" All right then?'' Lupin asked, his voice sounding rather strained, and hoarser than usual.

Snape gave a small snort and shrugged, walking to the door.

After a dismal attempt at eating breakfast, they were all standing in Ginny's hall. A light rain had begun to fall, and Remus had insisted that Hermione put on a cloak. Grumbling to herself about how she never caught chill, but she would wear the thing to please him, she opened the door to the coat closet, where Ginny kept a collection of spare coats and cloaks.

" Hey! Your closet! What is-" she didn't get a chance to finish.

As soon as Ginny had turned to see what Hermione was looking at, Lupin and Snape had glanced at each other over the heads of the women, nodded, and then moved forward.

" Terribly sorry about this." Remus had said, before hitting Hermione with a light stunning spell. He winced as she fell heavily back into his arms.

Snape had already stunned Ginny, taken her wand, and dragged her inside the closet, which they had cleverly transformed earlier into a very comfortable room, with soft chairs, books, snacks and beverages, and a bathroom to one side. He sat Ginny in a large chair, then assisted Remus who was struggling to get a much heavier Hermione onto the sofa.

" I hope she doesn't go into labor or anything." Remus said, covering her with a blanket.

" I would believe that occasion is still a month or two away." Snape said. " They will be perfectly fine. If there is any trouble the locking spell will release, and their wands will be lying right outside on that little table. Come on, they will wake in a few minutes.'

" Once again, so sorry about this." Remus called in the door before closing it behind him.

Snape placed the locking spell on the door, and lay the two wands side by side on the small table across from the door. He too would rather not have to do things this way, but they had not been able to dissuade either woman from their intention of attending the duel. He and Remus had discussed it, and eventually he had bullied him, in good old Slytherin fashion, into giving a reticent agreement to the plan.

" You do realize we will never be forgiven for this?'' Remus asked, after they had Apparated successfully to their destination, leaving behind them the angry sounds of the two women calling to them from within the room.

" I would rather have her unforgiving and unscathed, thank you very much."

The location that Snape had chosen, was wide flat expanse of field, bordered on one end by a particularly dense looking wood. As they approached the field, they saw that the witnesses had already arrived, and the table had been set up, to the side.

Adrien appeared only a few seconds later, followed by a large, bored looking man, in a simple grey suit.

Snape didn't recognize the bored man; mostly because he was taking a long moment to gape in disbelief at Adrien's clothing.

Adrien was not wearing blue jeans. He had actually garbed himself in something that resembled simple dueling clothes. Only there was nothing simple about them. He wore a black cape, lined in banana yellow satin, that was pinned at his throat with an elaborate collar. The corners of the cloak were caught at his wrists with silver gauntlets, so that every movement of his arms made the yellow satin flash gaudily in dramatic arches.

His vest, ( he wore no coat or robe ) was not only quilted but, it had swirls and patterns stitched across the yellow yellow and white striped cloth. Including his monograms in very effiminate script across his left breast.

His trousers were also black, and tight enough that nothing was left to the imagination. It looked as though he had stuffed the front of his trousers to make a dramatic bulge, and the vest was carefully cut so that it accentuated this fact perfectly. He was certain to stand always turned sideways so that his ' profile ' was on display, and he tapped his thigh constantly with a small riding crop, ever drawing people's attention downward.

To finish the ensemble, he wore gleaming white gloves and boots( which also had his monograms stitched in yellow and black), and Remus, noticing this, nudged Snape and remarked about what type of person would wear white boots onto a muddy dueling field. The remark was enough out of character for Lupin that it drew a smile from Snape, who was thinking somewhat along the same lines. Especially since the boots had gaudy buckles across the front, to match the silver gauntlets at the wrist of the gloves, both sets engraved with scrolling designs, and finished off with what looked like sapphires set into the center.

Adrien doffed a huge soft white hat, (complete with a sweeping white ostrich quill that was probably very handsome when it wasn't damp and wilted,) and gave an arrogant little bow of acknowledgment to Snape, who returned the greeting with a crisp, flourish-less bow of his own.

" Gentlemen, my second, Edward Avens." Adrien gestured to the man in the grey suit. " Avens, my opponent, Severus Snape, and his second. . .Remus Lupin." Adrien's voice, childish and condescending on the day of the challenge, had now assumed an air of superiority as he waved his hands, causing the cloak to flutter and shine.

The men shook hands, and the two competitors went to their separate ends to remove the extraneous garments, while the seconds examined the wands, to be certain they had not been tampered with.

There were three sets of two wands. Each wand would fire only once. If neither man was killed after all weapons had been used, then they could either shake hands and call it a truce, or demand satisfaction on another day.

Adrien was doing a pretty believable job of disguising his nervousness behind the pompous exterior, but Snape, trained for so many years as a spy, could smell fear on the man, and thought to himself that he had been wrong all along. Gilderoy Lockhart was not the worlds biggest fop after all.

At the judge's table, Harry Potter snapped closed a gold pocket watch and said;

'' Gentlemen the time has come. Please choose your weapon. "

Alene Crawford, one of Cusp's witnesses offered the container in which the wands had been shuffled. Snape, as the challenged person, was allowed to draw first. The wand was a thin flexible willow, unmarked. The one Adrien drew was identical.

A magical line had been drawn on the earth, exactly in the middle of the field. It glowed a warm orange color, reflecting on the faces and hands of the two men who now stood back to back, trying not to breathe too fast, or too raggedly while one of the judges droned through the rules.

' Tell yourself she is worth it." Snape repeated the litany in his head. " You are a Death Eater. You have fought in a duel before. You will win."

He wished he could believe that. He had only ever fought one genuine duel before, and it was as simple as ducking the other mans ill-aimed blows. He had boasted of his experience to Cusp with a lot more bravado than he was feeling at the moment. A glance at Lupin revealed that his second was not very enthusiastic either. The man was fidgeting under the growing air of excitement and tension, his face grey and his eyes flashing.

It was too late now to fall down and play dead, though, Potter had begun the count.

One. Two. Three. The field seemed desolate and grim before him as he walked in time, His paces taking him further from Cusp and closer to the possibility of doom.

He tried to take note of the wind and the light; but his thoughts were racing madly. His immaculate concentration broken by the face of a woman, her red hair brushing his face, her eyes,. . .

Concentrate! He barked mentally at himself.

Here it was!

Everyone held a collective breath as the players on the field turned in almost perfect synchronization, firing simultaneously.

Both hexes missed their target, but Adriens came dangerously close. Snape avoided it only by shrugging his shoulder a the right time.

Snape closed his eyes, and muttered something like a curse at his aim, and a prayer of thanks that Adrien had missed as well. Apparently Cusp was better than he had given him credit for.

The returned to the orange line, were once again offered the container of wands. ( this time carried by " Mary Smith", who offered a slight and reassuring smile) Once again they were back to back. This time, Snape could feel the the damp heat of Adrien perspiring nervously. Cusp was trembling , yet he had the audacity to mutter under his breath;

" I will get you this time." before Harry began counting once more.

The failure of the first round had cleared Snape's mind, bringing home the reality of his situation. Adrien was not just going to feint three times and call a truce, he could see that now. There was a look of pure loathing in the young man's face, that promised he would challenge gain and again. Or else simply turn Snape in to the authorities for illegal dueling.

There was nothing for it but to kill or wound the twit and have the whole thing over and done with.

This is exactly what Snape was thinking when he turned the second time and fired, aiming right for Adrien's belly. Cusp side-stepped reflexively and the curse struck the ground at his feet, causing him to dance backwards with a girlish shriek, sending his own hex flying towards the table of judges. The green light shot right between Lupin and Avens, and struck the protective shield that Harry raised just in time.

Snape smiled to himself as they returned for the third and final time to the line. Cusp's little dance number had dislodged whatever he had used to stuff his trousers with, and now his bulge had slid down to the outside of his right knee, where it took up the career of impersonating a gigantic tumor.

Apparently the near miss had shaken Adrien up considerably. He was paler than usual and his dark hair, which had been flawlessly styled only one hour ago, was now damp and plastered to his forehead.

This time as they stood back to back, Snape couldn't resist the urge to tease him just a bit.

As Douglas South, the fourth witness carried away the now empty wand container, Snape taunted under his breath;

" I think I have had enough of playing with you. Although I enjoyed watching you dance the tango back there, I would rather see your slimy yellow entrails spread across this field. What do you think about that?"

Adrien did not answer.

One. . . Two. . .Thre-

Adrien doubled over and vomited onto the grass, and Snape rolled his eyes, returning to the line. In his opinion., only a great fool would wait until the last round to get nervous enough to be ill.

No one stepped forward to assist Adrien, and when he returned to the line on wildly shaking legs, his face was lit with a blush of mortification.

One. Two. Three.

The Death Eater part of his nature was coming alive as he distanced himself fro the now reeking Cusp. He felt very alive, listening to the sounds his victim was making.It would be good sport to torture him, before killing him; very exhilarating.

Carefully, Snape pushed that feeling deep down with his other tumbling emotions. He needed to be calm. To keep a cool and level head.

The air was completely silent after the last number was announced. It seemed like it took him forever to turn around, to raise the wand to chest level, to recall the correct words. . .

They died on his lips though as he felt the cool air of a hex touching his skin, stunning him a moment. A great roar went up from the other people, Snape could see Lupin out of the corner of his eye, hastening towards him. He did not turn to him though, his eye was on the rapidly moving figure ahead of him. Adrien Cusp, fleeing toward the woods.

He realized what had happened. Adrien had turned one pace early and fired a hex at his back, then began running toward the trees, never looking back to see if he had hit Snape or not.

With a grimace, Snape raised his wand again.

" No!" Lupin took hold of his arm, but he shook him off, and declared silently, a combination of two spells. Near the trees, Adrien crumpled and fell.

'' You shouldn't have hit him! '' Lupin exclaimed. " You should have let him go."

" I did. Well, At least, he isn't dead." Snape said bitterly, flexing his left shoulder where Adrien's curse had brushed past.

Avens, Adrien's second, was striding purposefully across the field, his face set sternly.

" He isn't dead." Snape assured him. " I just Obliviated him."

A loud sound a the judge's table behind them indicated that the wands had been destroyed.

Avens surprised Snape by seizing his hand and pumping it vigorously.

" Sorry about all that." he said. " Wouldn't 'ave made me cry if you 'ad killed 'im. 'ee paid me to stand with 'im, is the only reason I'm 'ere. For the sake of ceremony though, I 'ave to say that I am satisfied that you won this duel."

" Thank you. "

" He must have ran off into the woods,' Potter approached the three men. " All I could find were these." he handed Snape a piece of paper, a large handkerchief, and one of the silver boot buckles.

" Do you want us to find him? '' ' Mary Smith ' asked coming up as well.

" No need. I am certain he will appear somewhere." Snape assured them, taking the paper and the buckle from Harry. He did left the handkerchief untouched, having the strangest feeling that he knew where that had been last.

" Congratulations on winning." Potter shook his solemnly.

" You all right? That last hex looked like it got a bit close. Bloody git." ' Mary Smith' glared at the woods where Cusp had vanished.

" I am fine. " At least until I let Ginny out of that closet, he thought. She would either be furious, or sick with worry. Probably both, he decided.

" Right then, what's next?" Mary smith asked.

" 'Ow bout we all celebrate? I'll buy the first round of drinks!" Avens declared.

" Splendid! Remus? Severus? Care to come along and drink to your success?'' Harry thumped Lupin hard on the back.

" Errr. . .no, actually Harry. I think I ought to get back. Small matter to clear up." Lupin said sheepishly.

" Oh yeah. Where are Hermione and Ginny?" Harry asked, frowning. " What did you do, petrify them so they wouldn't tag along?"

'' Don't be ridiculous." Snape snapped. " Petrification is first year folly."

" He locked them in the closet." Lupin interjected.

" Oh. . .professional." Harry nodded in mock approval. " I didn't think there was room in Ginny's closets for two people and a lizard."

" You didn't let them come?You ought to be ashamed. " said ' Mary Smith' tripping over the clump of grass.

" I am sure that I will be by the day's end." Snape amended.

At the moment though he was ecstatic enough over being alive that he was standing in the rain talking to a group of people he didn't like, and was pretty happy with it. Even though he knew he was dreading the actual act opening the closet door and releasing the red-haired hellion.

" I think I'll go on back, and open the door." Lupin said.

" I'll do it.''

Lupin looked nervous.

" I think it would be better if I did."

" I think not. I have survived this duel, and I want to be there to see the look on Ginny's face when I tell her as much." without a warning, he Disapparated before Lupin could argue further.

" Damn!. If you will excuse me." he nodded to everyone around. " Have fun." and he too vanished.

" Right. So which pub is it?" Harry asked with a shrug.

Snape Apparated right into the kitchen, and in his hurry to get to the hall, he knocked over a table and a broke a teacup. The low voices inside the closet hushed.

A loud pop indicated that Lupin had also arrived.

" Severus, wait. Maybe we should explain through the door. . . " he called, but Snape took out his own wand and opened the door.

Ginny came barreling out, her red hair flying and her face livid She looked around, taking in the rain soaked clothes, and the triumphant look on Severus face, and the apologetic expression on Remus' . She wasted no time in getting to her point, rounding on Severus.

" You stupid git! Are you all right?"

" Yes. I-"

" Good. " she said angrily, poking his chest with her finger. " You stupid, evil. . . wanker. Do you know how worried I was? Do you have any idea how awful it was to have to sit in there and worry myself to death over you?'' she sounded an awful lot like her mother at that moment.

" For goodness sakes, say something! Don't just walk in here and not apologize, not kiss me, not even lie and excuse yourself. Well?"

" I am trying to say something-"

" OF course, you wouldn't think of saying anything would you?

" But-"

" No, just expect me to accept it , and forgive you because I love you. Just stuff me in a closet so I won't get hurt and then come home all covered in mud and blood, and want me to-"

Snape gave up trying to get a word in. With a sigh, he took her by the shoulders pulled her close and kissed her. If he was expecting her to melt into his arms then, he was sorely disappointed.

He did receive however a look of absolute shock, and then to his dismay, Ginny began spitting and wiping her mouth, making exaggerated sounds of disgust.

Lupin rolled his eyes, throwing up a hand in exasperation. Hermione stepped back into the closet to avoid being spat on.

" Terrific Your giving it away.' he muttered.

" Ugh. I don't like you that much! " Ginny said, looking as though she had just drank a cup of vinegar.

" What? Me?" Snape asked, feeling perplexed.

" No not you, h-him." she gave a great shudder.

" Sign our death warrants." said Lupin.

" Well, what was all of that nonsense about love?" Ginny demanded.

" About buying more time!" Remus said.

" What is going on here?" Hermione demanded, glaring suddenly at Ginny. Snape detected cold shards of jealousy in that look, and only then did he think to notice how odd the little spat between Ginny and Lupin appeared.

With another look of exasperation, Lupin took out a wand and before Snape could grab his arm, he had struck Ginny square in the chest with a beam of blue light, knocking her off of her feet.

" Remus! " shrieked Hermione, and Snape whirled to aim his own wand at Lupin, only to drop it in surprise. Where Lupin had stood before, now Ginny was standing, and on the ground behind him, was Lupin.

" What? YOU! " Hermione pointed her finger accusatively to the Lupin who sat on the floor. " It was you in there? You sneaky little-. . .Ginny! Did you do this? "

" Yes. It was my twin curse."

" Your what?" Snape demanded, retrieving his wand from the floor.

" Twin curse. What I do to one twin happens to the other twin. Only. . .I haven't perfected it. It always does the opposite to the other person. And obviously" she gestured to the floor. " it works on people who aren't twins."

" Do you mean that. . .it was you? With me today? At the duel?" he seized her shoulders and shook her slightly.

" Yes."

He regarded her in silence for a long time.

" I don't know whether or not to spank you for being foolish or kill him for letting you do this." he finally said glaring.

" Kill me? She threatened me!" Lupin grumbled.

" Do whatever you like. It was worth it to me to know I was there with you." Ginny glared back, ignoring Lupin.

" I should have known you gave in too easily, about not being my second.."

" I can't believe you didn't tell me." Hermione said to Remus.

" That would have been a bit awkward, don't you think? Besides, it isn't like I had much of a choice." he said.

" Nooo. You just wanted to hear me confess all of that stuff, didn't you?"

Snape looked down at Remus, who was leaned back on his elbows grinning as his wife leaned over him, bawling him out.

" Oyick! " Snape suddenly made a gagging sound. " That means I kissed you!"

" That is why I was trying to stall you. " Ginny said. " If I had gotten here a full three seconds sooner, I could have had us completely reversed before you were ever the wiser." she shook her head sadly.

My favors for people do not include snogging other men, Ginny, sorry, I have my limits." Lupin said. " Or going into long rants about love. . .either."

Ginny grinned sheepishly.

" Clever though, huh? I think the words and they come out of the other person's mouth."

" So did you mean all of it?" asked Snape quietly.

" I meant every word he said." she winked. " Including the angry stuff. " She added sharply.

" Then I have a gift for you." he took out the objects from the field. Behind him, Lupin was giving an account of the duel, as he must have seen it transferred through Ginny's thoughts.

" Do you know what this is?" Snape held up the piece of paper.

" No."

" This is Adrien Cusp. I transfigured him."

" Clever Snape. " she grinned." What should I do with him, put him in a book somewhere? Flush him down the loo?"

" Better not. The transfiguration isn't permanent. "

" How about the Obliviate?"

" Oh just a selective process, through which I removed the memories of the duel, his affair with you, and his job at the ministry. Those memories were sadly lost when the dueling wands were destroyed. Pity." Snape raised a brow at her.

" Well, then, I know just what to do. " she walked to the kitchen table, where she took up a quill. In large letters she scribbled;

"SOS

My name is Adrien and I am an utter prat. I am a cheat,a coward, and a bad singer. Please deal with me accordingly.''

She dotted the ' i's' a little more forcefully than was necessary, then rolled the paper up tightly. Seeing her intent, Snape gladly passed her the empty wine bottle that was still sitting on the counter.

Ginny gleefully stuffed the paper into the bottle.

" Say goodbye to Adrien." she said, and with a snap of her fingers the bottle was gone.

" Where did you send him?" Hermione asked.

" Oh, he'll be landing in the channel before long." Ginny grinned. " And life can go on."

'' By the way, you can kiss me.'' she whispered to Severus.

Instead of taking her up on the offer, he turned to the others.

" If you will excuse us, I have something of the utmost importance to show to Ginny. I trust you can show yourselves out?" he took hold of Ginny's arm, pulling her against himself.

" We'll tell you all about it later" Ginny called back to the others ". . .it was really amaz-" her words were cut off as she was Disapparated along with Snape, from the room.

" Oooh, the utmost importance?'' Hermione asked with a laugh once they were alone. " I can only hope he is talking about the house! "


	27. The House that Snape built

**Authors Note-**  
Uploaded this chapter day before last, but after re-reading it, I noticed a few mistakes to be edited, and a few extra words that could be added to help smoothe out some of the flow. Hope it worked!

Oookay. Last chapter. Except there is an epilogue written. It will be uploaded after I see whether or not everyone likes this chapter, or if I made a compelete muddle of it! Have been having a heck of a time editing this one, to make it sound believable, touching, and humorous , all at the same time.-

* * *

**LuSa-**Scarily enough, a lot these ideas are inspired by real event, and people hat I know! All I have to do is weave it into the fan fiction. But I am glad it is appreciated, because there is also some stuff in there that comes straight from my imagination.

**billiejoe-**Hehe, Snape should have, shouldn't he? Then Adrien would have been distracted!

**Darth Depravious-**I love your reviews! And I wuld have loved to do a Ministry invetigation of the duel, with Percy getting  
Obliviated. . .so much fun!( C'mon, we'd all like to see ol' Percy get a little something!) But I am already way over my ten chapter quota, soooo, I had to just skip ahead to the fun parts. grin Sounds like you have Percy's dialogue nailed dead on though. . .:D

**Crisjen**-Thanks! I am really glad. :)

* * *

" A field?" she asked, surveying her surroundings with a polite smile." You wanted to show me a field."

" Don't be silly. " he removed a green silk blindfold from his pocket, and motioned for her to turn around.

The blind effectively cut away all of the light, leaving her completely at his mercy; which was rather like expecting a desert to spurt you with water, she thought. The name of Snape, and the word ' 'mercy" were not usually synonymous.

But she allowed herself to once again be Apparated, and didn't even complain when he set them down too roughly on a piece of rather stony ground.

He positioned her as he pleased, guiding her by the shoulders until she was standing perfectly aligned.

" You aren't going to spank me, are you?" she asked, with a bit of a nervous laugh.

" Not today, my arm is tired."

" That is what you get for playing with your _wand_ all morning. . ." she sang at him, grinning when she heard him choke down a snort of laughter.

Suddenly the cloth was ripped from her eyes and she was blinded by the afternoon sunlight.

" Gah, you might have_ warned _me." she squealed, blinking rapidly.

" I _know_." he smirked.

She squinted her eyes open, and found herself facing a house, which in itself was not unusual. However the house, or rather cottage, itself was quite the spectacle, and may have attributed in part to the glaring brilliance that had temporarily blinded her.

There was nothing else in sight, except for more fields of rolling, dry , greyish grass; extending off into unbelivablly clear horizons of nowhere. The area had a familiar and surreal feel to it, like a dream in which everything that is constant is suddenly turned inconstant, and twisted.

Ginny shook her head, trying not to wonder at the strangeness of the fields, when she had before her an astounding memorial dedicated either to the love he claimed to truly feel, or his intense determination to triumph over every task she set him.

He had built her a house. And managed to get in the last jabbing word, in a way that was so ultimately Snape that she could not even be irritated.

not that she wanted to be irritated at the moment. She was too busy bouncing up and down, with her hands clasped under her chin, much to his surprise and amusement.

" It's _BEAUTIFUL!" _she squealed, turning to plant a sloppy kiss on his lips, which she missed by a couple of inches, due to the fact that she was in flat shoes.

He wiped her lipstick from the botom of his chin, and frowned at the house, trying to discern where exactly he had gone so _right, _when he had been so intent on going purposefully _wrong. _

" Beautiful?' he repeated, and she nodded fervently, her eyes wide and glimmering. '' But. . .' he continued, bewildered." I painted it _yellow_. "

But she was already bounding up the crooked drive towards the door. He didn't follow immediately, but stayed safely back, just in case she didn't approve of the interior.

Ginny knew perfectly well, that he was confused by her lack of agitation; but she had made her mind up weeks ago to be gushing and enthusiastic about whatever he managed to concoct. She just hadn't expected to actually like his handiwork so much. She was genuinely impressed by his creativity.

The house itself had been built without magic. Not a single nail had gone into it that wasn't driven by hand, sometimes even his own hand. However, she had forgotten to make adequate stipulations as to where all of the supplies should come from. A great deal of the of the hardware and trims had come from wizard shops. Some, like the biting doorbell, and the Portkey-Potty seat had been generously donated by her twin brothers.

She had wanted windows, and almost every spare inch of the house's front was occupied by a window. Large nine-pane windows. . .each with brightly painted shutters. ( Careful though, they were warded to prevent anyone except the two of them from peering in the window without receiving a healthy dose of electrocution. A privacy precaution invaluable to Witches and Wizards who might want to deter any overly curious Muggle neighbors)

What space remained between the windows was painted an almost phlegm color of yellow, and he had tampered with the paint so that it shone metallically and glittered as though it were rolled in multi-faceted stones. By itself, it would have been obnoxious, but with the equally shimmering aquamarine shutters, it was disturbingly eccentric, and rather charming.

The front door had a knob that was the shape of a lion's head, but the knocker was a heavy silver serpent devouring a Griffin. As soon as she stepped over the threshold, all of the lamps lit themselves, and she was again dazzled and tickled by the scene in front of her. Clearly he had meant to earn a little revenge for her ridiculous request to build the house.

The walls in the living room and dining area were all painted black, and the furniture was of heavy mahogany, with green and purple cushions. She had specified that she desired a fireplace, so that he could visit her anytime he wished. She discovered that he had complied by having one installed in every single room, including the two bathrooms.

One of the bathrooms, she discovered, was orange, with a black toilet.( That was the tricky one. . .but it would be weeks before Ginny accidentally sat down on the Portkey toilet seat, and found herself in one of ' Snape Manor's' unlit closets, with her knickers around her ankles, and bloody murder on her mind.)

The kitchen, she discovered, was blue, from the ceiling down. ( Including the inside of the Muggle refrigerator the workmen had insisted on adding.) It would be later that night, before she discovered that when the lights were off, the entire kitchen looked like an enormous aquarium; the blue walls rippling with silver light and charmed shadows flitted by like tropicl fish.

Evrywhere about the house were odd pieces of sculpture, some artistic, some erotic, and some confusing.( The one involving the entertwined bodies of a green elephant and a multi-headed woman with four breasts was just entertaining.) Lamps and mirrors spoke to her as she passed, and she was surprised when a closet door rudely informed her she would have to say ' please', if she wanted to ' twist it's knob.'

She examined each and every thing, only vaguely aware that Severus had crept into the house and was watching her, attempting to detect her mood from across the room. He was waiting for the last room, the master bedroom, to be opened.

First though she went to the kitchen window and threw back the curtain.

" A good kitchen view is priceless." she said, standing on tipte so she could look out. " Hey, what is that house over there?" she indicated a plain modest house.

" That is Snape Manor." he answered.

" But, that isn't a mansion!" she exclaimed.

" I never said that it was." he smirked.

She spun from the window, grinning.

" Aha, I see now. This is near to where we had our picnic, isn't it?"

" Yes. We were in the garden, behind the the Manor. You cannot see it from here. . .how did you know?"

" I recognized your Disillusionment ward. It feels. . .safe. "

" It is." he replied rather smugly.

" And what is this over here?" she asked, tilting her head toward the door to the left of the kitchen.

" Bedroom." he purred, his deep, smooth voice making the simple word seem positively wicked.

" Oh, I must see this. What is in here, whips and chains?" she batted her eyes at him.

" No, those are in my bedroom." he deadpanned.

She tiptoed to the door, and pretended to listen for a second.

" I don't here any gears or mechanisms suggesting the presence of a torture chamber. . ." she clasped the knob, ." So I will assume it is safe to enter."

" Assuming is a dangerous habit." he warned as she turned the knob.

The lamps inside of the bedroom snapped to attention, and she was bathed in a pool of dull red light, and surrounded suddenly by the sound of low wordless music, which seemed to be emanating from the walls. ( Actually, it was no more complicated than some Muggle wiring, and a motion sensor. He did not want her to be able to say that he had used more magic than was appreciated for decorating.) . She turned to give him a questioning look, as the music continued to trill dramatically from the hidden speakers, but he was completely expressionless, refusing to look at her

After she stepped inside, she understood why he had not met her eye.

The room looked, to be perfectly frank, like a cross between a bordello and the inside of a strawberry. From the elaborate scrolled chandelier with it's ruby teardrop pendants; to the red plush carpet that was so thick and soft that it gripped her ankles and prevented her from walking swiftly, it was both garish and erotic. It had red flocked wallpaper, red ostrich plume fans, and a large round feather bed in the very center, with a tufted velvet headboard.

Snape sidled past her arrogantly, sat on this bed, ( making a notable depresion in the seductively soft mattress) , and back against the headboard.

" So what do you think?" he asked crossing his arms over his chest, and admiring her gaping mouth.

" It looks like a. . .a. . ." she stammered.

" Brothel?" he offered.

" Yes." she answered.

" Oh, are you _blushing_? " he jibed. " Wonder what these are for. . ." he added musingly, lifting a long red length of silk that was tied loosely to the bedpost. It's twin was tied to the opposite side, and she was struck suddenly with the image of him bound securely with those ropes. At her mercy.

" Severus." her voice was stern, and he let the length of silk flutter out of his hand.

" Yesss?"

" Sevvy-Baby is going to clash horribly with this color scheme." she stated, the teasing curl back on the corner of her mouth.

" Well, feel free to alter the decor at any time." he answered.

" Oh, no. . .you match it so well. " she replied. " It is absolutely wonderful!" she added breathlessly, already rearranging furniture in her mind as she planned on where her old possessions would be placed.

He waved his hand in a bored fashion.

" Of course you are completely ruining my day." he said. " First by tricking me, and then by denying me the satisfaction of seeing your complete annoyance."

" But, I am not annoyed." she said.

" You aren't?"

"No. . .in fact I am once more_ impressed_. "

" By what?"

" By you."

" That is understandable." he said slyly.

" I'm serious. I never though you would humor me this long. And yet, you have gone beyond what I would have expected. I asked you to prove yourself, and you have, without complaint, and in some cases, with surprising ingenuity. "

" In twenty successful ways?" he asked, a little too hopefully.

" Well, perhaps it is time for me to count the ways." she said, placing one hand on her hip, and holding the other one up, prepared to count off his attempts on her slender fingers. " First off, I knew you were at least remotely sincere, from the beginning, because you handed over your wand to me that first night, to prove you were sincere."

He winced a little at the memory of that first ' kiss'.

" From the very beginning you have been _brutally_ honest, which is a rare commodity. You agreed to prove it. That was actually test number one, but I couldn't tell you that then, could I?'

" You could have, it would have saved time."

" Don't interrupt unless there is a fire. You sent me flowers, and were thoughtful enough to put them in my school colors, and you took me to the hospital."

He shifted uncomfortably.

" But actually thought to find out what my favorite color was. No one has ever done that before."

'' You listened to me, at the restaurant, and did not leave after I had kissed you. You took it like a man."

" How do you know I didn't leave?"

She only smiled, and continued.

" You have been extremely patient and well behaved, especially with Hermione and Remus, going to them for advice and everything."

Severus was beginning to frown. He had a list of things memorized in his head, that he had counted as his " twenty ways''. So far, what she was mentioning were not gifts that he had given, so much as gestures. He was beginning to understand, with a bit of embarrassment, that it was not his generosity so much as his attitude that had been put to the test.

Suddenly his cold self assuredness began to peel away; certainly he not made enough kind gestures to have earned her respect and love?

" In the garden at Grimmauld, the night I asked you to build me this. .. " she waved a hand nervously. '' I felt that we had been but playing, and I wanted to really see. . .and you promised me that you would give me more than Hermione had, a house, babies, . . ._you_. "

She paused to take a much deserved breath, her hand raised to prevent him from speaking before she was completely finished.

You remembered my birthday, and sent me not only the most original card I have ever received, but also one of the most original gifts. I can't begin to explain to you how refreshing it was to see something new, not a necklace or another bottle of perfume. A purple iguana was perfectly silly, and I loved it.

Then there was the day of the picnic, you showing up in that ridiculous shirt! You were spontaneous, and thoughtful. You found out that I loved picnics, you had been having tea with my Mum! We had a great picnic, a lovely talk, and then screamingly good sex in a swamp. And all of that was after you had once more proven you cared for me by being honest and confessing all of that rubbish about Ron and Harry's candy. You didn't even leave when I had a tantrum."

" Ginny, there is something else I have to tell you. . ." he thought about his business dealings with her brothers, and wondered if this was not the appropriate time to make yet another confession.

'' Not right now, I'll lose my place.'' she said. "Then you were summoned, and I was so worried when you didn't come back. I was so thankful when Remus finally found you."

He did not want to think about that rescue. There were certain limits to his pride, and having her learn that Lupin had gagged him, looked at his bare arse, and poured Firewhiskey on his groin was certainly out of bounds, especially since they were only a few feet from where the incident had taken place.

Ginny, mercifully, didn't notice his obvious discomfort.

" Then there was this. . ." she showed him her palm, where the little forget-me-not simpered pertly against the pink flesh. " I am still not too sure about this, but once again, since it was original, I rather like it. Especially since it is like a secret, yet permanent apology for your nasty burst of _selflessness_." she winked at him, when he realized she had said 'selflessness'. . .not 'selfishness'.

'' You told me I was a good teacher. You defended me against Adrien. You agreed to a duel, even though you could have been arrested for it. You were going to stuff me in a closet, and I was_ upset_, but I am mature enough to realize, if not appreciate that it was for my own good."

" For what it was worth." he muttered.

" It was worth a lot. So now, after all has been said, and done, and if my calculations are in order. . ." she said, impersonating Dumbledore. " Then I believe that, with this fantastic little house thrown in , you have. . .found nineteen ways to prove yourself."

" _Nineteen_!" he exclaimed, sitting up. " How do you figure that? I counted well over twenty-five!"

" You _would_! But, _I _have to take off one big point for the closet, telling me not to come to see you in the hospital, and for not telling me about the business relationship you have been keeping with Fred, George, Ron, _and_ Harry. Along with other small annoyances."

" How did you. . .all that. . .how did you figure. . .?"

" I have my moments of deviousness, Professor Snape. Now. . .should I make you earn your last point? Or should I just let it go?"

" Well, I wish you would give it to me, free of charge, I was intending to write a book ' Twenty Ways to Catch a Weasley. ' 'Nineteen Ways' just wouldn't have the same selling potential as a title."

"I am just teasing you. You have met my expectations in more ways than I could ever count with words. So, how about now I tell you a big secret? One that I didn't even know for certain until the day of the duel?"

" As long as it isn't some heartbreaking piece of bad news. If that is the case then-"

" I love you." she blurted.

He had waited a long time to hear her say those words, completely. Not just hinting and teasing, but a real open confession of love. Now that he had heard it, all of the sarcastic quips he had rehearsed for the occasion packed up their vowels and went on vacation. The best he could manage was;

" You. . .do?"

" Yes. It came as a complete shock to me as well. I was growing extremely fond of you, actually, I think you had me from the night in the garden. But I didn't understand to what extent, until I saw that curse almost hit you at the duel. For a moment, I forgot I was supposed to be Lupin. . .I just wanted to kill Adrien and kiss _you_.Right in front of Hrry and everybody."

" Probably best that you didn't." he smiled wincingly, forbidding himself to imagine how horrific that would have been.

" Yes." she laughed. " And luckily you were too intent on hexing Cusp, to notice I was crying, That would have been awkward."

They were silent a moment, simply watching each other shyly across the way.

" So to what extent are you willing to go to prove yourself to me?" he asked, finally, breaking the awkward silence.

She grinned, relieved that he had acknowledged her confession, but was not going to take cruel advantage of the fact that her heart was bared before him.

" Well, I could probably think of twenty ways or more. But I would start by walking around the world just to get to you."

'' That is completely unnecessary. . ." he murmured, holding out a hand to her, and smiling with, for once, a completely tender smile. " Across this room would suffice."

Somewhere in the dim light of late afternoon, a wine bottle, seeming to appear from the very air itself, plummeted down through the wisps of fog, and splashed into the cool grey waters of the English Channel. No one was there to witness this phenomena.

It would be two days before a very confused young man with the letters " SOS" tattooed on his forehead would be returned to the Wizarding world, sans a few excruciatingly important memories.

Someone however was kind enough to send him a '' Get Well '' card, and a bouquet of flowers that had nestled in their midst a very large, rolled up handkerchief.

" You always liked to keep this close. I thought you would appreciate having it back in your. . .possession. Surely you have felt somewhat ' diminished' without it."

Signed,

An anonymous acquaintance


	28. Epilogue Doesn't life just love us?

**Authors Note-**I finally did it! This is the end. Except, should there be any questions, or any points, mistakes I need to clarify or correct, please let me know so that I can either correct them, or add a chapter to cover any details. Well, I was going to make you guys beg for it, but I decided at the last moment to be merciful,( that's once in a lifetime occurence, trust me! and post the epilogue. Please tell me that it ended well:( after having written on it for so long, the ending felt so abrupt!

**excessivelyperky-**Hey, it's not his house:) He just wanted to get in a little revenge. **  
**

**Darth Depravious-** snort If I were the Twins, that's what I would do to Percy. Among other things.**  
**

**Erica Dawn-**Here 'tis. The shocking windows, btw, are to keep out any snoopy Muggles that might be passing by. I revised that part to make a little bit more sense. :) Glad you picked up on some of the humor bits. ..I was afraid they might have been lost in the chapter detail.

**billiejoe**-oh, it was both of them, definitely!

**thinkvixen-**Thanks:)**  
**

**Epilogue-**

( A few months later, after the start of school.)

" Look at that!" Lupin grinned. " Just look at him!"

He was gesticulating wildly in the direction of Hermione, who was coddling an infant against her chest. She looked exhausted, but ecstatic, as she basked in the attention administered by Molly and Tonks.

" Do you see him? That's my son." Lupin nudged Severus hard in the ribs, leaving a bruise and knocking him against a table.

" I am neither blind, nor stupid." Severus assured the other man, with a sigh of exasperation. He had been the witness of this exuberant display of paternal pride for over an hour now; the two new parents had been so distracted by the baby that they could barely focus on the meeting.

And now the meeting was over, and everyone who had been impatiently behaving like adults earlier, were now gathered around the funny little infant, cooing and pulling the most hideous faces at it.

Everyone that is except for Ginny and Dumbledore, who were both engaged in a serious and hushed conversation, standing off to one side.

He found it much easier to watch Ginny than to listen to Lupin; even though Ginny seemed to be rather irritated by what she was being told. He seriously hoped that Dumbledore had not found out about their midnight tryst on the astronomy tower. It had been one of those little incidents where he lost all self control; a breach in his impeccable demeanor that only Ginny could cause Therefore, he viewed it logically as her fault.

Briefly he toyed with the thought of wandering over to investigate, but doubted that the subject would justify the journey. He had grown terribly lazy over the last couple of months, which could also be blamed on her. . .she was very therapeutic.

He and Ginny had settled in perfectly with one another, he in his home, and she in hers; always just the right balance between privacy and company. And now that they were teaching again, he found less pleasure in harassing students, than he did in harassing Ginny.

Especially since he now knew not only what type of person she was intellectually, but also what color of underwear she preferred. It was a beautiful relationship. With a plethora of yet unopened possibilities.

Their rivalry was good natured, if not sometimes brutal, always to the amusement of the staff, and the general dismay of the students, most of whom did not even guess what the secret nature of the relationship between the sour Potion's master and the fiery DADA teacher was.

Certainly there were times, when Dumbledore saw the need to call one or the other of them down, and once he had even warded them both into the cold locker in the kitchens for two hours

until '' their tempers returned to room temperature."

But that had really only been an intellectual discussion gone slightly sour. The raised voices were necessary only they had both been determined to out-talk the other, . . .or at least that is the defense they had both pleaded to Dumbledore later when he had released them, and lectured them in his office as if they were unruly third year students instead of grown professors.

Ahh...but Severus had never imagined just how. . .dare he say it? Fun? How fun it could be to argue with a woman who was magically, intellectually, and emotionally his near equal? And if one couldn't say that the arguments were fun, then no one could deny that making up was sheer glee. As were the personal pranks they had taken to trying on each other. . .

" He does NOT look like a monkey, Ronald!" Hermione snapped suddenly, distracting Snape's thoughts away from particularly satisfying memory of the time he had charmed Ginny's brassiere to unclasp anytime he said the word ' Undoing'. Then he had forgotten and uttered the forbidden word at the teachers table one morning. . .

" All I meant was that he is an odd looking bloke." Ron held his hands up in defense, and Snape decided it was almost time to depart the scene. " I mean. . .do all babies look like that?"

Hermione answered him with a sharp glare, tucking the Gryffindor colored blanket tighter around the baby's tiny form.

" That is a direct result of people tampering with love potions. " Fred spoke Snape's thoughts. '' Let that be a lesson to you other blokes."

Molly reached across the chair and flicked the wrong twin's ear.

" Ouch! Really woman! Are you never going to get us straight? That was Fred that said that!" George rubbed his pinkening ear.

" Sorry George. Well. . .pass that on to Fred." she shrugged. " It's all right dear." she patted Hermione's hand, ignoring the twins, as George began stalking his brother, holding out a thumb and forefinger while making the most hideously malicious face.

" He doesn't look like a monkey." Harry said. " He looks like. . .you, Hermione. Only,. . . with Remus' eyes."

Very suave, thought Snape.

" Severus. . .what do you think?" asked Hermione.

His attention had already been creeping back to where Ginny stood, reading a scrap of paper that Dumbledore had pushed into her hands.

" I. . .think that he is going to be more trouble than he is worth. . .in say, eleven years? Perhaps by then I will be mercifully retired."

Hermione and Remus both laughed, and Molly sent Snape a smile of thanks that he appreciated a lot more than he would ever admit. Even under torture. Everyone needed a mother, and it seemed like Molly would never have enough people to smother with her instincts.

" Severus." Ginny laid a hand on his arm. He turned to her, and found her expression to be inscrutable, pinched around the mouth as though she were trying not to be amused about something.

" Professor Weasley?" he teased, dryly.

Usually that remark made her smile but this time, her eyes widened a bit.

" Not for very much longer. . ." she muttered beneath her breath.

" Beg your pardon?" he leaned down closer, certain that he had misheard her. She only flashed him her trademark smile. The one that dazzled him, temporarily blinding him to whatever matters of importance were happening in the universe around him.

" If you're finished scaring the baby, maybe we could go back to my rooms? I have something I want to show you. . ." she said flirtatiously.

" A secret?" he asked back, his voice too low for anyone else to hear.

" Maybe. That all depends. ." she smiled again, and he felt his heart race a little faster.

It took them three minutes to say their goodbye's, ( or rather her goodbye's; he was perfectly content with just vanishing sans the au revoirs.) and Apparate to the school grounds. A few minutes more for them to go to their separate rooms, a measure of discretion that Dumbledore insisted upon, and they both agreed to.

By the time Snape had Flooed into the fireplace in Ginny's chamber, she was already out of her robes and her shoes, and was lounging on the sofa, a glass of Firewhiskey in her hand.  
He sat down beside her, taking the glass she had already filled for him, and for a moment they were silent.

" You've been sacked, haven't you?" he finally blurted out.

" No. Why would I be sacked?'

" I thought perhaps the Astronomy tower incident might have came to his notice."

" Oh! No. Nothing like that." she blushed slightly." But I am afraid that I have been given some rather serious news. Have you read the newspapers today?"

He was leaning closer to her, inhaling the perfume of her hair.

" Mmm. I haven't read the papers in three months." he answered.

Ginny produced the paper scrap from earlier ,and held it out to him, and he took it after a few moments of pretending to sulk because she wouldn't kiss him.

He murmured over the first few parts of the article, and Ginny nodded her head, staring into the fireplace. Her ice clinked happily in her nearly empty glass.

" WHAT?" he demanded at last.

" Mmmhmmm." she smiled, still not looking at him. She was still gazing into the fireplace, pursing her lips thoughtfully as he struggled to sit up straight, his back stiffened indignantly.

" But I. . .I. . ." for once, he was lost for an adequate amount of meaningful words; and resorted to simply waving the paper in front of her.

" I know. I have already read it. Twice. " she informed him, pushing it away.

" I don't believe they can do this." he stated, sullenly. '' In fact. . .no, it is impossible."

" Did you read it closely?" she asked, still watching the fire."The part where it says that all persons of '' pure blood must petition for a magical person of non-pure blood? Marriage Law? Persons being required to marry or lose their Wizarding Rights, Which means handing over their wands, maybe even having their memories effectively cleaned to prevent them from revealing all of the dirt about the Ministry of Magic. . . " she waved her hand, almost knocking him in the jaw, as she indicated all of the unspoken complexities of life.

" Of course I read it!" he snapped. " But it's nothing to me. I'm not pure blooded, remember?" his eyes glinted broodily, as the were always prone to do when he was reminded of his lineage.  
" No. . .but I am." she answered calmly.

The words went through him like a sharp winter's wind, cutting off his breath for a moment.

" You. " he said, stupidly.

" That's right. I am. and therefore. . .I have to petition for someone, don't I?" she turned now to look at him, and he read clearly the look of hopeless bemusement in her eyes.

" Me!" she continued." And I was determined to have perfectly happy life without ever having to succumb to the folly of wedlock." she moaned melodramatically.

He was about to go on a rant about how, only a few months ago, he had never even wanted a relationship, let alone a marriage either; and look how Fate had botched that one! Then his eyes were drawn downwards to where she had just crossed her legs. A glimpse of black satin and lace peeked out, and unconsciously, he moistened his lips with his tongue, letting the paper fall to the floor.

" It could be a hoax." he said lamely.

" It has Dumbledore convinced." she said, shifting so that her skirt climbed an inch higher.

" I'll bet." he muttered.

" Horrible, isn't it?" she simpered noticing that he wasn't half as infuriated as he would like the world to believe.

" Simply awful!" he agreed, leaning closer.

He made a semi-lunge for her, suddenly, and she intentionally allowed him to pin her beneath him; drawing one leg up so that she could cross it over his lean hips.

He lowered his lips to hers, and gave her a swift kiss.

" We can go down this afternoon and get the thing over with.'' he said.

" Who said I was asking you? " she retorted, kissing her way delicately across his chin.

'' Who said I was accepting?" he retaliated by blowing warmly into her ear.

" Well if that is your idea of a proposal! " she huffed.

" No, that is your idea of a proposal, I am the victim here." he answered against her throat.

" I seem to recall that you are the one who started this." she unbuttoned the top of his robe.

" Don't be immature, or I'll tell Dumbledore."

" Tattle."

" Hellion."

" So is that a yes?" Ginny

'' Are you asking?''

" Yess..." she hissed as he bit the soft skin of her throat.

" Then the answer is no." he stood up, and reveled in the look of absolute shock on her face.

" Why not?" she demanded with heated indignation, standing up as well.

" Because I refuse to be on the receiving end of any proposal." he stuck his great nose up into the air, reminiscent of his old, haughty self.

" Well. . ." she searched for an appropriate word, but came up short. " Well. . .fine. I'm not someone for asking twice." she turned away from him., so that they now stood back to back, each with their arms crossed in childish stubbornness.

So what are you going to do then?" he asked.

" I suppose I'll just have to find someone to petition for. "

" Not if I marry you first." he exclaimed.

" You! You just turned me down!"

" I said I wasn't going to marry you. . .you however will marry me."

" I will not!" she yelled back over her shoulder.

" Oh, yes you will, because I am prepared to genuflect at your feet if that is what it takes."

Ginny gave a sigh and leaned back against him, propping her head on his shoulder. She was grinning sweetly, if not mischievously.

" I wouldn't want you if you groveled." she said.

" How about if I take you by force?''

" Oh. . did you mean that to sound so. . .carnal?''

" No! " he snapped, trying to cover his own embarrassment over his lack of finesse. " I meant ' take you to the Ministry!' And request a marriage."

" Well, the answer is no then. I wouldn't want you forcing me. Into marriage, that is."

" How shall I ask then?'' he murmured, his voice going instantly silky. It was incredibly unfair, the way he used his voice.

" Just ask as frankly as possible. "

" Will you marry me?"

" Yes."

" You can be incredibly difficult sometimes." he glared at the wall.

" Oh, let's don't begin our engagement with a row. . ." she said teasingly, turning him around so that she could look into his eyes. A slight glimmer of humor had taken up residence in those once cold black irises lately.

" What shall we begin it with?" Severus' expression suddenly went predatory, as he pulled her tightly against himself.

" A decision. Whose going to be your best man?" she threaded her fingers into his thick hair, shaking his head affectionately back and forth, because she knew he liked it and it irritated him at the same time.

He drew a an over-exaggerated breath.

" No one."

She laughed.

" I won't risk it again," he swore. '' It's one thing to have your second turn out to be your lover, but I won't have my bride turn out to be my best man."

" Oh Severus, I wouldn't do that again!" she smiled innocently. " Besides, a very sly Slytherin altered my twin curse so that it only works on twins now. "

" How sad. If I find him, I'll give him a kiss."

" Oh, give it to me, I'll see that he gets it."

They sank back to the sofa, arms and legs intertwining of their own accord, and lips hungrily devouring each other.

" We can make the whole ordeal short and painless. As few witnesses as possible, nothing gaudy." she assured him between kisses.

" Acceptable. You handle the arrangements. . .since your the one in power." he mumbled against her skin.

" One more thing. . .Severus?" she panted.

" What?" he growled.

" Can the marriage wait until tomorrow?"

" But only until. If you don't wish to have to compete with all of those other women who are simply lusting for me. One of them could steal me away from under your nose. . .and I wouldn't have a choice. I would have to go. . ." he said, peppering her chest with kisses between her words.

Ginny giggled.

" After all the trouble you've been to me? All I can say to them is; Over. My. Dead. _Body_."

_- Somewhere else-_

Fred shook his red head in a look of woeful defeat, as George counted out one hundred galleons into Dumbledore's velvet money bag.

The Headmaster smiled, his eyes sparkling with mirth, and mischief.

" I never thought it would work." George lamented.

" I told you mate,she would believe any prank if Dumbledore told her." Fred patted George reassuringly on the back.

" I still can't believe Ginny would be so daft. Really , that paper had ' obvious hoax" written all over it."

" Maybe it was what she wanted to hear, old man."

'' Maybe it was the messenger that did the trick."

" I was most convincing." Dumbledore assured them. " A joke is only as good as the actor who delivers it, if I may say so myself."

" Maybe someday you could teach us how to be that convincing? " George sighed, dropping the last coin into the purse.

" We might even be able to fool Mum." Fred nodded.

" Not bloody likely!" George grinned. " But a few good pointers on deception would be appreciated."

" My dear Master's Weasley, given the nature of our last escapade, I doubt any of the three of us will survive that long.." Dumbledore patted them each on the shoulder. " But don't look so glum. Would either of you like a piece of candy?". . .

** THE END **

* * *

**Special Note of Thanks to;**

**EricaDawn, Cat, excessivelyperky,LuSa, Dear Me, dubtheunforgiven, billiejoe, SeverusSnape'sLove, s.m. rahl, Queen of the Faeries1, Mrs. Green, KitKat07, Darth Depravious,. . .and everyone else. These are really cool people! **

**Note from the author-**_And please people, be generous and try to donate something to the RedCross, or any of the other charities for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Even if it is only prayers or kind thoughts, or if you are like me, and live in an area near enough to house evacuees, then remember to smile at them, and be patient. Thanks._

Sincerely, FairlightMuse **  
**

**BYE! **


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